IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4887 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs 
AN ACT 
To modernize Federal grant reporting, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Grant Reporting Effi-
ciency and Agreements Transparency Act of 2018’’ or the 
‘‘GREAT Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) modernize reporting by recipients of Federal 
grants and cooperative agreements by creating and 
imposing data standards for the information that 
grants and cooperative agreement recipients must 
report to the Federal Government; 
(2) implement the recommendation by the Di-
rector of the Office of Management and Budget, 
under section 5(b)(6) of the Federal Funding Ac-
countability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 
U.S.C. 6101 note), which includes the development 
of a ‘‘comprehensive taxonomy of standard defini-
tions for core data elements required for managing 
Federal financial assistance awards’’; 
(3) reduce burden and compliance costs of re-
cipients of Federal grants and cooperative agree-
ments by enabling technology solutions, existing or 
yet to be developed, by both the public and private 
sectors, to better manage data recipients already 
provide to the Federal Government; and 
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(4) to strengthen oversight and management of 
Federal grants and cooperative agreements by agen-
cies through consolidated collection and display of 
and access to open data that has been standardized, 
and where appropriate, transparency to the public. 
SEC. 3. DATA STANDARDS FOR GRANT REPORTING. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Subtitle V of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 63 the 
following new chapter: 
‘‘CHAPTER 64—DATA STANDARDS FOR 
GRANT REPORTING 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘6401. Definitions. 
‘‘6402. Data standards for grant reporting. 
‘‘6403. Guidance applying data standards for grant reporting. 
‘‘6404. Agency requirements. 
‘‘§ 6401. Definitions 
‘‘In this chapter: 
‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 552(f) of title 5. 
‘‘(2) CORE DATA ELEMENTS.—The term ‘core 
data elements’ means data elements that are not 
program-specific in nature and are required by agen-
cies for all or the vast majority of Federal grant and 
cooperative assistance recipients for purposes of re-
porting. 
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‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 
the Director of the Office of Management and Budg-
et. 
‘‘(4) FEDERAL
AWARD.—The term ‘Federal 
award’— 
‘‘(A) means the transfer of anything of 
value for a public purpose of support or stimu-
lation authorized by a law of the United States, 
including financial assistance and Government 
facilities, services, and property; 
‘‘(B) includes grants, subgrants, awards, 
and cooperative agreements; and 
‘‘(C) does not include— 
‘‘(i) conventional public information 
services or procurement of property or 
services for the direct benefit or use of the 
Government; or 
‘‘(ii) an agreement that provides 
only— 
‘‘(I) direct Government cash as-
sistance to an individual; 
‘‘(II) a subsidy; 
‘‘(III) a loan; 
‘‘(IV) a loan guarantee; or 
‘‘(V) insurance. 
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‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the head of the standard-setting agency. 
‘‘(6) STANDARD-SETTING AGENCY.—The term 
‘standard-setting agency’ means the Executive de-
partment designated under section 6402(a)(1). 
‘‘(7) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each 
State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 
each commonwealth, territory or possession of the 
United States, and each federally recognized Indian 
Tribe. 
‘‘§ 6402. Data standards for grant reporting 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) DESIGNATION
OF
STANDARD-SETTING 
AGENCY.—The Director shall designate the Execu-
tive department (as defined in section 101 of title 5) 
that issues the most Federal awards in a calendar 
year as the standard-setting agency. 
‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
STANDARDS.—Not 
later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 
this chapter, the Secretary and the Director shall es-
tablish Governmentwide data standards for informa-
tion reported by recipients of Federal awards. 
‘‘(3) DATA
ELEMENTS.—The data standards 
established under paragraph (2) shall include, at a 
minimum— 
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‘‘(A) standard definitions for data elements 
required for managing Federal awards; and 
‘‘(B) unique identifiers for Federal awards 
and entities receiving Federal awards that can 
be consistently applied Governmentwide. 
‘‘(b) SCOPE.—The data standards established under 
subsection (a) shall include core data elements and may 
cover any information required to be reported to any agen-
cy by recipients of Federal awards, including audit-related 
information reported under chapter 75 of this title. 
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The data standards required 
to be established under subsection (a) shall, to the extent 
reasonable and practicable— 
‘‘(1) render information reported by recipients 
of Federal grant and cooperative agreement awards 
fully searchable and machine-readable; 
‘‘(2) be nonproprietary; 
‘‘(3) incorporate standards developed and main-
tained by voluntary consensus standards bodies; 
‘‘(4) be consistent with and implement applica-
ble accounting and reporting principles; and 
‘‘(5) incorporate the data standards established 
under the Federal Funding Accountability and 
Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). 
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‘‘(d) CONSULTATION.—In establishing the data 
standards under subsection (a), the Secretary and the Di-
rector shall consult with, as appropriate— 
‘‘(1) the Secretary of the Treasury, to ensure 
that the data standards incorporate the data stand-
ards created under the Federal Funding Account-
ability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 
6101 note); 
‘‘(2) the head of each agency that issues Fed-
eral awards; 
‘‘(3) recipients of Federal awards and organiza-
tions representing recipients of Federal awards; 
‘‘(4) private sector experts; 
‘‘(5) members of the public, including privacy 
experts, privacy advocates, and industry stake-
holders; and 
‘‘(6) State and local governments. 
‘‘§ 6403. Guidance applying data standards for grant 
reporting 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of this chapter— 
‘‘(1) the Secretary and the Director shall issue 
guidance to all agencies directing the agencies to 
apply the data standards established under section 
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6402 to all applicable reporting by recipients of Fed-
eral grant and cooperative agreement awards; and 
‘‘(2) the Director shall prescribe guidance ap-
plying the data standards to audit-related informa-
tion reported under chapter 75. 
‘‘(b) GUIDANCE.—The guidance issued under this 
section shall— 
‘‘(1) to the extent reasonable and practicable— 
‘‘(A) minimize the disruption to existing 
reporting practices for agencies and for recipi-
ents of Federal grant and cooperative agree-
ment awards; and 
‘‘(B) explore opportunities to implement 
modern technologies within Federal award re-
porting; 
‘‘(2) allow the Director to permit exceptions for 
categories of grants if the Director publishes a list 
of such exceptions, including exceptions for Indian 
Tribes and Tribal organizations consistent with the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act; and 
‘‘(3) take into consideration the consultation re-
quired under section 6402(d). 
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‘‘§ 6404. Agency requirements 
‘‘Not later than 3 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this chapter, the head of each agency shall ensure 
that all of the agency’s grants and cooperative agreements 
use data standards for all future information collection re-
quests and amend existing information collection requests 
covered by chapter 35 of title 44 (commonly referred to 
as the Paperwork Reduction Act) to comply with the data 
standards established under section 6402, consistent with 
the guidance issued by the Secretary and the Director 
under section 6403.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of chapters for subtitle V of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to chapter 63 the following new item: 
‘‘64. Data Standards for Grant Reporting .............................................. 6401’’. 
SEC. 4. SINGLE AUDIT ACT. 
(a) AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 7502(h) of title 31, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting before ‘‘to a Federal 
clearinghouse’’ the following ‘‘in an electronic form 
consistent with the data standards established under 
chapter 64,’’. 
(2) Section 7505 of title 31, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection: 
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‘‘(d) Such guidance shall require audit-related infor-
mation reported under this chapter to be reported in an 
electronic form consistent with the data standards estab-
lished under chapter 64.’’. 
(b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue 
guidance requiring audit-related information reported 
under chapter 75 of title 31, United States Code, to be 
reported in an electronic form consistent with the data 
standards established under chapter 64 of title 31, United 
States Code, as added by section 3. 
SEC. 5. CONSOLIDATION OF ASSISTANCE-RELATED INFOR-
MATION; PUBLICATION OF PUBLIC INFORMA-
TION AS OPEN DATA. 
(a) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.—Not later than 
4 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary and the Director shall enable the collection, pub-
lic display, and maintenance of Federal award information 
as a Governmentwide data set, using the data standards 
established under chapter 64 of title 31, United States 
Code, as added by section 3, subject to reasonable restric-
tions established by the Director to ensure protection of 
personally identifiable and otherwise sensitive information. 
(b) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary 
and the Director shall require the publication of recipient- 
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reported data collected from all agencies on a single public 
portal. Information may be published on an existing Gov-
ernmentwide website as determined appropriate by the Di-
rector. 
(c) FOIA.—Nothing in this section shall require the 
disclosure to the public of information that would be ex-
empt from disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United 
States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom of Infor-
mation Act’’). 
SEC. 6. EVALUATION OF NONPROPRIETARY IDENTIFIERS. 
(a) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—The Director and 
the Secretary shall determine whether to use nonpropri-
etary identifiers under section 6402(a)(3)(B) of title 31, 
United States Code, as added by section 3(a). 
(b) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In making the 
determination required pursuant to subsection (a), the Di-
rector and the Secretary shall consider factors such as ac-
cessibility and cost to recipients of Federal awards, agen-
cies that issue Federal awards, private-sector experts, and 
members of the public, including privacy experts and pri-
vacy advocates. 
(c) PUBLICATION
AND REPORT
ON DETERMINA-
TION.—Not later than the earlier of 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act or the date on which the Sec-
retary and Director establish data standards pursuant to 
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section 6402(a)(2) of title 31, United States Code, as 
added by section 3(a), the Secretary and the Director shall 
publish and submit to the Committees on Oversight and 
Government Reform of the House of Representatives and 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen-
ate a report explaining the reasoning for the determination 
made pursuant to subsection (a). 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, the terms ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘Director’’, ‘‘Fed-
eral award’’, and ‘‘Secretary’’ have the meaning given 
those terms in section 6401 of title 31, United States 
Code, as added by section 3(a). 
SEC. 8. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 
Act, shall be construed to require the collection of data 
that is not otherwise required pursuant to any Federal 
law, rule, or regulation. 
SEC. 9. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 
No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 
requirements of this Act and the amendments made by 
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this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using 
amounts otherwise authorized. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 26, 
2018. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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