Sec. 4. Report requirements relating to grants. 
Sec. 5. Plan for improving the single audit process. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) GRANTS TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subtitle V of title 31, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
chapter 73 the following new chapter: 
‘‘CHAPTER 74—GRANTS TRANSPARENCY 
REQUIREMENTS 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘7401. Definitions. 
‘‘7402. Merit-based selection procedure requirements in awarding grants. 
‘‘7403. Pre-award evaluation requirements. 
‘‘7404. Website relating to Federal grants. 
‘‘7405. Debriefing. 
‘‘§ 7401. Definitions 
‘‘In this chapter: 
‘‘(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ means 
an entity that submits a proposal or application for 
a grant. 
‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE
GRANT.—The term ‘com-
petitive grant’ means a grant entered into through 
the use of merit-based selection procedures for the 
purpose of allocating funds authorized under a grant 
program of an Executive agency. 
‘‘(3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘Execu-
tive agency’ has the meaning given that term in sec-
tion 105 of title 5, except the term does not include 
the Government Accountability Office. 
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‘‘(4) GRANT.—The term ‘grant’ means an 
award of Federal financial assistance through a 
grant agreement or cooperative agreement making 
payment in cash or in kind to a recipient to carry 
out a public purpose authorized by law. 
‘‘(5) GRANT REVIEWER.—The term ‘grant re-
viewer’, with respect to a grant— 
‘‘(A) means any individual who reviews, 
evaluates, or participates in the decision to se-
lect a grant applicant for award of the grant; 
and 
‘‘(B) includes— 
‘‘(i) a peer reviewer; 
‘‘(ii) a merit reviewer; and 
‘‘(iii) a member of a technical evalua-
tion panel or board or a special emphasis 
panel. 
‘‘(6) PROPOSAL
ABSTRACT.—The term ‘pro-
posal abstract’, with respect to a grant proposal, 
means a summary containing key elements of the 
grant proposal. 
‘‘§ 7402. Merit-based selection procedure require-
ments in awarding grants 
‘‘(a) MERIT-BASED SELECTION PROCEDURES RE-
QUIRED.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), an Executive agency shall use merit-based 
selection procedures in awarding grants. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION
FOR
CERTAIN
GRANTS.—An 
Executive agency is not required to use merit-based 
selection procedures in awarding a grant if the grant 
is a block grant or formula grant for which Federal 
funds are required to be allocated in accordance with 
a distribution formula prescribed by law or regula-
tion, or any other grant in which the allocation 
methodology for the grant funds is mandated by law. 
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT
FOR SPECIFIC MERIT-BASED 
SELECTION PROCEDURES.—Each Executive agency shall 
establish and make publicly available online specific merit- 
based selection procedures for each grant program of the 
agency required under subsection (a) to use such proce-
dures. 
‘‘(c) MERIT-BASED SELECTION PROCEDURES DE-
SCRIBED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The merit-based selection 
procedures required under subsection (a) shall pro-
mote the use of competition, and may be tailored to 
the particular requirements, objectives, and authori-
ties of the agency. The procedures may address mat-
ters such as consideration of unsolicited proposals, 
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standards for obtaining a competitive pool of appli-
cants, and exceptions for safety, security, or other 
circumstances. 
‘‘(2) 
SPECIFIC
MATTERS
INCLUDED.—The 
merit-based selection procedures required under sub-
section (a) shall include, with respect to a grant, the 
following: 
‘‘(A) A clear statement of the purpose, du-
ration (including anticipated grant continu-
ations), and eligibility requirements of the 
grant. 
‘‘(B) A description of the manner in which 
applications or proposals for the grant will be 
evaluated, ranked, and selected for award, in-
cluding the weighting of any evaluation factors 
or criteria that will be considered. 
‘‘(d) ADVANCE NOTIFICATION
OF GRANT OPPOR-
TUNITY REQUIRED.— 
‘‘(1) AGENCY NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 
60 days before the date on which a grant oppor-
tunity becomes available, the head of the relevant 
Executive agency shall notify the Director of the Of-
fice of Management and Budget. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC
NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 
30 days after receipt of the grant opportunity de-
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scribed under paragraph (1), the Director shall 
make available online the specific matters described 
under subsection (c)(2) with respect to such grant. 
‘‘§ 7403. Pre-award evaluation requirements 
‘‘(a) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—Before awarding a 
competitive grant, an Executive agency shall conduct an 
evaluation of the ability of the prospective grantee to suc-
cessfully carry out the grant. 
‘‘(b) MATTERS COVERED.—The evaluation required 
by subsection (a) shall include a review of the following: 
‘‘(1) FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.—The 
capability of the financial management system of the 
applicant to appropriately manage and account for 
funds according to accepted cost accounting prin-
ciples determined by the Office of Management and 
Budget. 
‘‘(2) INTERNAL
CONTROLS.—The internal fi-
nancial and administrative control systems of the 
applicant. 
‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE WITH REPORTING.—The ca-
pability of the applicant to comply with Federal re-
porting requirements for recipients of Federal funds. 
‘‘(4) PAST
PERFORMANCE
AND
INTEGRITY.— 
The past performance and record of integrity of the 
applicant. 
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‘‘(5) 
OTHER
QUALIFICATIONS
AND
COM-
PETENCE.—The ability of the applicant to success-
fully carry out the purposes of the grant. 
‘‘(6) OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.—Whether 
the applicant has received other Federal funds 
through a contract or other type of assistance 
through a search of the System for Award Manage-
ment and the Federal Assistance Award Data Sys-
tem. 
‘‘(c) SIMPLIFIED
EVALUATION
PROCEDURE
FOR 
CERTAIN APPLICANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In conducting the evalua-
tion required under subsection (a) with respect to an 
applicant, an Executive agency shall minimize the 
burden on any covered applicant and shall consider 
any existing findings with respect to that covered 
applicant under the single audit process under chap-
ter 75 of title 31 related to the matters in subsection 
(b). 
‘‘(2) COVERED APPLICANT DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘covered applicant’ means an 
applicant that has received more than $10,000,000 
in Federal grants during the previous 10 years be-
fore the date on which the evaluation occurs. 
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‘‘§ 7404. Website relating to Federal grants 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—The Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget shall upgrade any existing or 
proposed public website for finding Federal grant opportu-
nities and applying for such grants so that such website 
may serve as a central point of information and provide 
full access for applicants for competitive grants. The 
website shall capture in one site, or provide electronic links 
to, other relevant databases. 
‘‘(b) NOTICE
OF
COMPETITIVE
GRANT
FUNDS 
AVAILABILITY.—At the time an Executive agency issues 
a solicitation or otherwise announces the availability of 
funds for a competitive grant, the agency shall post on 
the grants website maintained under this section relevant 
information about the grant opportunity, including the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) ANNOUNCEMENT
AND
PURPOSE.—The 
grant announcement and purpose of the grant. 
‘‘(2) GRANT PERIOD.—The time period for per-
formance of the grant and whether the agency an-
ticipates that the grant will be continued. 
‘‘(3) AMOUNT
OF
AVAILABLE
FUNDS.—The 
amount of funds available for the grant. 
‘‘(4) ELIGIBILITY.—A statement of eligibility 
requirements of the grant. 
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‘‘(5) AGENCY POINT OF CONTACT.—Contact in-
formation for the Executive agency, including the 
name, telephone number, and electronic mail address 
of a specific person or persons responsible for an-
swering questions about the grant and the applica-
tion process for the grant. 
‘‘(6) EVALUATION FACTORS OR CRITERIA.—A 
clear statement of the evaluation factors or criteria 
that the agency intends to use to evaluate and rank 
grant applications or proposals submitted, including 
the weight to be applied to each factor or criterion. 
‘‘(7) DISCLOSURE
OF
THE
PROCESS
AND 
STANDARDS
FOR
SAFEGUARDING
AGAINST
CON-
FLICTS.—A description of the process and standards 
to be used by the agency to determine that each 
grant reviewer does not have a prohibited conflict of 
interest, as defined by applicable statute or regula-
tion, with respect to the evaluation or review of a 
grant application or proposal, or the decision to 
award a grant. 
‘‘(8) DEADLINE.—The deadline for submission 
of grant applications or proposals. 
‘‘(c) USE
BY APPLICANTS.—The grants website 
maintained under this section shall, to the greatest extent 
practicable, allow grant applicants to— 
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‘‘(1) use the website with any computer plat-
form; 
‘‘(2) search the website for all competitive 
grants by purpose, funding agency, program source, 
and other relevant criteria; 
‘‘(3) apply for a competitive grant using the 
website; 
‘‘(4) manage, track, and report on the use of 
competitive grants using the website; and 
‘‘(5) provide all required certifications and as-
surances for a competitive grant using the website. 
‘‘(d) GRANT AWARD INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each competitive grant 
awarded by an Executive agency, the agency shall 
post on the grants website maintained under this 
section the information described in paragraph (2). 
Except as provided in paragraphs (2)(A), (2)(B), 
and (3), the information shall be posted within 30 
days after an Executive agency notifies an applicant 
that the applicant has been selected to receive a 
grant award and shall be updated as necessary while 
the grant to the recipient is being performed. 
‘‘(2) INFORMATION POSTED.—For purposes of 
paragraph (1), the information described in this sec-
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tion with respect to each grant awarded by an Exec-
utive agency is the following: 
‘‘(A) EXECUTED
GRANT
AGREEMENT.— 
Subject to paragraph (3), a copy of the final 
grant agreement, including the terms and con-
ditions and the time period for performance of 
the grant. 
‘‘(B) COPY
OF
PROPOSAL, APPLICATION, 
OR PLAN.—Subject to paragraph (3), a copy of 
any proposal, application, or plan submitted for 
the awarded grant, including any amendment to 
the proposal, application, or plan (whether 
made before or after the award of the grant). 
‘‘(C) AWARD
DECISION
DOCUMENTATION 
AND RANKINGS.—Documentation explaining the 
basis for the selection decision for the grant, 
the number of proposals received for the grant, 
and, with respect to the proposal that resulted 
in the grant award, the numerical ranking of 
the proposal by grant reviewers, if numerical 
rankings were assigned. 
‘‘(D) 
JUSTIFICATION
FOR
DEVIATING 
FROM
RANKINGS.—In any case in which the 
award of the grant is not consistent with the 
numerical rankings or any other recommenda-
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tions made by grant reviewers, a written jus-
tification explaining the rationale for the deci-
sion not to follow the rankings or recommenda-
tions. 
‘‘(E) DISCLOSURE OF PEER REVIEWERS.— 
The employer, and either the name and title or 
a unique identifier, of each individual who 
served as a peer reviewer for the grant program 
concerned, during the six-month period pre-
ceding the award of the grant. 
‘‘(F) DISCLOSURE OF OTHER GRANT RE-
VIEWERS.—The name, title, and employer of 
each individual who served as a reviewer (other 
than a peer reviewer) of proposals or applica-
tions for the grant, regardless of whether the 
individual is employed by the Federal govern-
ment or not. 
‘‘(3) EXCEPTION TO POSTING REQUIREMENT.— 
Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2)(A), and (2)(B), 
if the head of the Executive agency determines, with 
respect to a particular grant award, that posting the 
proposal, application, or plan at the time described 
in paragraph (1) would adversely affect an appli-
cant, the agency— 
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‘‘(A) may post a proposal abstract or exec-
utive summary; and 
‘‘(B) shall post the complete proposal, ap-
plication, or plan for any proposal that is re-
leased under section 552 of title 5, United 
States Code (commonly known as the Freedom 
of Information Act), not later than 60 days 
after the date on which the proposal, applica-
tion, or plan is released. 
‘‘(e) GRANT PERFORMANCE INFORMATION.—Unless 
otherwise prohibited by law, with respect to each grant 
awarded by an Executive agency, within 60 days after the 
end of the period for completion of the grant, the agency 
shall post on the grants website maintained under this sec-
tion the following information: 
‘‘(1) The final report or other final written 
product required under the terms of the grant. 
‘‘(2) Other related data or results of the grant, 
or links to other related data or results of the grant, 
that the agency considers to be of value to future re-
searchers or in the public interest. 
‘‘(f) SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION OF GRANT SO-
LICITATION FORECAST ON THE GRANTS WEBSITE.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than November 
30 of each year, the head of each Executive agency 
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shall post a forecast, in accordance with paragraph 
(2), of all grant solicitations that the agency expects 
to issue for the following calendar year. The forecast 
shall be based on the best information available and 
shall not be binding on the agency. 
‘‘(2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The forecast shall 
include, to the extent practicable, the following for 
each expected grant solicitation in a machine read-
able format: 
‘‘(A) SUBJECT AND PURPOSE.—A brief de-
scription of the subject and purpose of the 
grant, organized by the organizational unit of 
the Executive agency. 
‘‘(B) POINT OF CONTACT.—Contact infor-
mation for the organizational unit or individual 
responsible for the grant, if known, including 
name, telephone number, and electronic mail 
address. 
‘‘(C) NOTICE
PUBLICATION
DATE.—The 
expected or actual dates for the issuance of the 
grant solicitation and application and the grant 
application submission deadline. 
‘‘(D) AWARD
AMOUNT.—The estimated 
amount of the average grant award, the esti-
mated maximum and minimum amounts of the 
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grant award, if applicable, and the estimated 
total number of grant awards to be made. 
‘‘(E) TOTAL FUNDING.—A description of 
the total amount available to be awarded. 
‘‘(g) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.—Nothing in 
this section shall be construed as requiring the publication 
of information otherwise exempt under section 552 of title 
5, United States Code (popularly referred to as the ‘Free-
dom of Information Act’). 
‘‘(h) TRANSPARENCY OF INFORMATION.—To the ex-
tent practicable, the grants website maintained under this 
section shall— 
‘‘(1) make the information described in this sec-
tion available in its original format; 
‘‘(2) make the information described in this sec-
tion available without charge, license, or registration 
requirement; 
‘‘(3) permit the information described in this 
section to be searched and aggregated; 
‘‘(4) permit the information described in this 
section to be downloaded in bulk; 
‘‘(5) permit the information described in this 
section to be disseminated via automatic electronic 
means; 
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‘‘(6) permit the information described in this 
section to be freely shared by the public, such as by 
social media; 
‘‘(7) use permanent uniform resource locators 
for the information described in this section; and 
‘‘(8) provide an opportunity for the public to 
provide input about the usefulness of the site and 
recommendations for improvements. 
‘‘§ 7405. Debriefing 
‘‘If requested by an applicant for a competitive grant, 
for each grant award made in an amount in excess of 
$100,000 pursuant to a merit-based selection procedure, 
an Executive agency shall provide the applicant with a 
timely debriefing explaining the basis for the agency’s 
award decision, including, if applicable, the decision not 
to award a grant to the applicant.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL
AMENDMENT.—The table of 
chapters at the beginning of subtitle V of title 31, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
the item relating to chapter 73 the following new 
item: 
‘‘74. Grant Transparency Requirements .................................. 7401’’. 
(b) GUIDANCE FOR MERIT-BASED SELECTION PRO-
CEDURES FOR GRANT PROGRAMS.—Not later than 60 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Direc-
tor of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue 
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and disseminate guidance to aid Executive agencies in es-
tablishing merit-based selection procedures for agency 
grant programs, as required by section 7402(c) of title 31, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 
(c) DEADLINE FOR MERIT-BASED SELECTION PRO-
CEDURES FOR GRANT PROGRAMS.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, each Ex-
ecutive agency shall carry out the requirement of section 
7402(c) of such title, as so added. 
(d) REPORT ON MERIT-BASED SELECTION PROCE-
DURES FOR GRANT PROGRAMS.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp-
troller General of the United States shall submit to the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Home-
land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a 
report on the guidance issued by the Director of the Office 
of Management and Budget under subsection (b) and the 
actions taken by Executive agencies to establish merit- 
based selection procedures under subsection (c). 
(e) EXECUTIVE AGENCY DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ has the meaning given that 
term in section 105 of title 5, United States Code, except 
the term does not include the Government Accountability 
Office. 
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SEC. 4. REPORT REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO GRANTS. 
(a) UNDISBURSED GRANT FUNDING REPORT.— 
(1) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 
of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue 
guidance to Executive agencies instructing each 
agency to identify amounts of undisbursed grant 
funding remaining in grant accounts for which the 
period of availability to the grantee has expired and 
report to the Office of Management and Budget on 
the status and resolution of such funding. 
(2) REPORT
REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Director shall submit to the Committee on Over-
sight and Government Reform of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Secu-
rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report 
summarizing the information reported by Executive 
agencies under subsection (a) and describing the ac-
tions the Director or Executive agencies plan to take 
with respect to the undisbursed grant funding iden-
tified in the information so reported. 
(b) GRANTS WORKFORCE REPORT.— 
(1) REPORT
REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Comptroller General of the United States shall 
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