81_FR_78584 81 FR 78369 - Format for DoD Grant and Cooperative Agreement Awards

81 FR 78369 - Format for DoD Grant and Cooperative Agreement Awards

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 215 (November 7, 2016)

Page Range78369-78376
FR Document2016-25699

This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) is the second of a sequence of six NPRM documents in this issue of the Federal Register that collectively establish for DoD grants and cooperative agreements an updated interim implementation of Governmentwide guidance on administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit requirements for Federal awards and make other needed updates to the DoD Grant and Agreement Regulations (DoDGARs). This NPRM adds a new DoDGARs part to establish a standard format for organizing the content of DoD Components' grant and cooperative agreement awards and modifications to them.

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 215 (Monday, November 7, 2016)
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 215 (Monday, November 7, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 78369-78376]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25699]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

2 CFR Part 1120

[DOD-2016-OS-0052]
RIN 0790-AJ47


Format for DoD Grant and Cooperative Agreement Awards

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Defense (DoD).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) is the second of a 
sequence of six NPRM documents in this issue of the Federal Register 
that collectively establish for DoD grants and cooperative agreements 
an updated interim implementation of Governmentwide guidance on 
administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit requirements 
for Federal awards and make other needed updates to the DoD Grant and 
Agreement Regulations (DoDGARs). This NPRM adds a new DoDGARs part to 
establish a standard format for organizing the content of DoD 
Components' grant and cooperative agreement awards and modifications to 
them.

DATES: To ensure that they can be considered in developing the final 
rule, comments must be received at either the Web site or mailing 
address indicated below by February 6, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number, or by 
Regulatory Information Number (RIN) and title, by either of the 
following methods:
    The Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions 
at that site for submitting comments.
    Mail: Department of Defense, Deputy Chief Management Officer, 
Directorate for Oversight and Compliance, 4800 Mark Center Drive, ATTN: 
Box 24, Alexandria, VA 22350-1700.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number or RIN for this Federal Register document. The general 
policy for comments and other submissions from the public is to make 
the submissions available for public viewing on the

[[Page 78370]]

Internet at http://www.regulations.gov without change (i.e., as they 
are received, including any personal identifiers or contact 
information).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wade Wargo, Basic Research Office, 
telephone 571-372-2941.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Executive Summary

A. Purpose of the Regulatory Action

1. The Need for the Regulatory Action and How the Action Meets That 
Need
    As explained in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of the NPRM 
immediately preceding this one in this issue of the Federal Register, 
this is one of six NPRMS that collectively make needed updates to the 
Department of Defense Grant and Agreement Regulations (DoDGARs). One 
purpose of the updating is to implement Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) guidance to Federal agencies on administrative requirements, cost 
principles, and audit requirements applicable to Federal grants, 
cooperative agreements, and other assistance instruments (2 CFR part 
200). Another purpose is to provide greater uniformity in the content 
and organization of DoD grants and cooperative agreements made by 
approximately 100 offices located throughout the nation and abroad.
    The regulatory action in this NPRM contributes to the first of 
those purposes by implementing provisions of the OMB guidance on the 
minimum content that Federal agencies' awards must include. It also 
contributes to the second of those purposes by:
     Establishing additional requirements for uniform content, 
beyond the minimum identified in the guidance; and
     Specifying a standard format for organizing the content of 
DoD Component awards to all types of entities, including entities other 
than those addressed in the OMB guidance.
2. Legal Authorities for the Regulatory Action
    There are two statutory authorities for this NPRM:
     10 U.S.C. 113, which establishes the Secretary of Defense 
as the head of the Department of Defense; and
     5 U.S.C. 301, which authorizes the head of an Executive 
department to prescribe regulations for the governance of that 
department and the performance of its business.

B. Summary of the Major Provisions of the Regulatory Action

    The proposed part 1120 is organized into seven subparts, each of 
which addresses a major element or subelement of the standard award 
format that the part establishes. Those elements and subelements of the 
standard award format are the:
     Award cover pages (addressed in subpart A of the proposed 
part).
     Award-specific terms and conditions (addressed in subpart 
B).
     General terms and conditions (addressed in subpart C), the 
four subelements of which (addressed in subparts D through G) are the: 
(i) Preamble; (ii) administrative requirements; (iii) national policy 
requirements; and (iv) programmatic requirements.
    Sections I.B.1 through I.B.7 of this Supplementary Information 
section describe these elements and subelements of the standard award 
format. Sections I.B.1 and I.B.2 describe the award cover pages and 
award-specific terms and conditions, respectively. Section I.B.3 
describes the general terms and conditions as a whole and sections 
I.B.4 through 7 separately describe its four subelements.
1. Award Cover Pages (Division I of the Award)
    Subpart A of the proposed part 1120 addresses the content of the 
award cover pages and their location in Division I of the award. The 
cover pages will contain basic information about the award or 
modification to the award, such as the name of the DoD awarding office 
and recipient, the award number, and amount. The cover pages list what 
else the award includes--such as the scope of work, any award-specific 
terms and conditions, and the general terms and conditions--and state 
where those other portions of the award are located. The cover pages 
will be signed by the DoD grants officer and, for a bilaterally 
executed award or modification, an official the recipient entity 
authorizes to sign on its behalf.
    For grants and cooperative agreements to institutions of higher 
education, nonprofit organizations, States, local governments, and 
Indian tribes, Subpart A thereby implements OMB guidance in 2 CFR 
200.210(a) on the general information contained in awards. The proposed 
Subpart A is broader than the OMB guidance in that it: (1) Specifies 
use of the format for awards to for-profit and other entities not 
addressed in the guidance; and (2) requires DoD Components' to include 
more information elements than the guidance specifies. The proposed 
Subpart A varies in three instances from the guidance by:
     Providing more detailed explanations of some of the 
information elements listed in Sec.  200.210(a) of the OMB guidance, to 
help clarify exactly what information a DoD Component is to include--
e.g., in the case of each funding amount, whether it is the federal 
share, the non-federal share, or the sum of the two.
     Providing clarification related to the guidance in 2 CFR 
200.210(a)(15) on the inclusion in each award of the recipient's 
indirect cost rate for the award. The proposed subpart A requires a DoD 
Component to include only the indirect cost rate that is in effect at 
the time of the initial award. The reason is to avoid unnecessary 
burdens and costs of having to update information on cover pages 
throughout the life of a multi-year award to a for-profit or other 
entity that has post-determined final indirect cost rates and rates 
that vary from one fiscal year to the next (note that a post-determined 
final rate for a recipient's fiscal year is set after the end of that 
fiscal year, based on actual costs).
     Excepting a DoD Component from the requirement to include 
the indirect cost rate on an award if the recipient of the award 
affirms that it treats its rate as proprietary information, as many 
for-profit and nonprofit entities do.
    The proposed subpart A also provides for later development of a 
standard DoD form for the cover pages, by mandating use of the form 
when there is one. A standard form will make it easier for both 
recipients and DoD post-award administrators to locate basic 
information they need in different DoD awarding offices' awards.
2. Award-Specific Terms and Conditions (Division II of the Award)
    Subpart B of the proposed 2 CFR part 1120 provides for DoD 
Components' inclusion of award-specific terms and conditions in 
Division II of their awards. Depending upon specific conditions 
pertinent to a particular award, an awarding office may need award-
specific terms and conditions to supplement or supersede some of the 
general terms and conditions. The proposed Subpart B does not prescribe 
how to organize the content of the award-specific terms and conditions, 
nor does it specify standard wording for any of them. For grants and 
cooperative agreements to institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
organizations, States, local governments, and Indian tribes, the 
proposed Subpart B implements, without variation, OMB guidance in 2 CFR 
200.210(c) as it applies to award-specific terms and conditions.

[[Page 78371]]

3. General Terms and Conditions (Division III of the Award)
    Subpart C of the proposed part 1120 addresses the general terms and 
conditions as a whole and their location in Division III of the award. 
The subpart also provides for publicly posting the general terms and 
conditions, rather than providing them to each recipient with its 
award. Publicly posting them should make it easy for a potential 
proposer to review the requirements with which it would have to comply 
if its proposal was successful. For grants and cooperative agreements 
to institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, States, 
local governments, and Indian tribes, the subpart implements OMB 
guidance in 2 CFR 200.210(b), without variation.
4. Preamble to the General Terms and Conditions (Subdivision A of 
Division III of the Award)
    Subpart D of the proposed part 1120 requires a DoD Component to 
include a preamble for each set of general terms and conditions that it 
maintains and specify its location as Subdivision A of the general 
terms and conditions in Division III of the award. The subpart requires 
the preamble to a set of general terms and conditions to contain 
important information about that set, such as the types of awards and 
recipient entities to which it applies. The only portion of the OMB 
guidance that relates to the proposed subpart D is the guidance in 2 
CFR 200.111(b) on the need for a recipient, if a significant portion of 
its employees who are working under a Federal agency's award are not 
fluent in English, to provide a translation of the award into the 
language or languages with which its employees are familiar. The 
proposed subpart D clarifies that guidance by stating that a recipient 
must translate award content only to the extent that its compliance 
with award requirements depends on employees who are not fluent in 
English being able to read and comprehend that content.
5. Administrative Requirements Portion of the General Terms and 
Conditions (Subdivision B of Division III of the Award)
    The proposed subpart E of part 1120 specifies what the 
administrative requirements portion of the general terms and conditions 
covers, where it is located within the award, and which DoDGARs part or 
parts governs the administrative requirements for awards to different 
types of recipients. It also encourages a DoD Component that is 
constructing general terms and conditions for awards to institutions of 
higher education, nonprofit organizations, States, local governments, 
and Indian tribes to incorporate the administrative requirements by 
reference to the portions of the DoDGARs that provide standard wording 
for that portion of the terms and conditions. For awards to those types 
of recipients, subpart E also implements OMB guidance in 2 CFR 
200.210(b)(1)(i), without variation.
6. National Policy Requirements Portion of the General Terms and 
Conditions (Subdivision C of Division III of the Award)
    The proposed content of subpart F of part 1120 provides direction 
to DoD Components concerning the scope, source, and location within the 
award format of national policy requirements. As the proposed subpart E 
does for administrative requirements, subpart F encourages a DoD 
Component to incorporate the standard wording that the DoDGARs provides 
for commonly applicable national policy requirements into general terms 
and conditions by reference. For awards to institutions of higher 
education, nonprofit organizations, States, local governments, and 
Indian tribes, subpart F implements OMB guidance in 2 CFR 
200.210(b)(1)(ii), without variation.
7. Programmatic Requirements Portion of the General Terms and 
Conditions (Subdivision D of Division III of the Award)
    The proposed subpart G of part 1120: (1) Clarifies what the 
programmatic requirements segment of the general terms and conditions 
includes, in relation to the content of the administrative and national 
policy requirements; (2) provides some specific examples of 
programmatic requirements; and (3) specifies the location of those 
requirements as Subdivision D of the general terms and conditions in 
Division III of the award. For awards to institutions of higher 
education, nonprofit organizations, States, local governments, and 
Indian tribes, subpart G implements, without variation, OMB guidance in 
2 CFR 200.210(c) as it applies to program-specific requirements 
included in general terms and conditions.

C. Costs and Benefits

    The primary benefit of the regulatory action proposed in this NPRM 
results from its standardization of the location of basic information 
about the award and requirements for recipients contained in award 
terms and conditions across awards made by about 100 DoD Component 
awarding offices. With that standardization, recipients, auditors, DoD 
post-award administrators, and others who use the content of DoD awards 
should be able to find what they need more quickly and easily within 
the 15,000 award actions per year that the awarding offices issue.
    Another benefit of the proposed regulatory action is the 
encouragement for DoD Components to incorporate DoD-wide standard 
wording for administrative and national policy requirements into their 
general terms and conditions by reference. This approach makes it 
easier for recipients and others who use the terms and conditions to 
much more quickly identify how each awarding office's general terms and 
conditions vary from the DoD standard wording.
    The administrative burdens and associated costs to recipients due 
to the regulatory action proposed in this NPRM are primarily those 
resulting from the Governmentwide guidance to agencies that OMB issued 
in 2 CFR part 200. The few variations from the guidance noted in 
sections I.B.1 and I.B.4 of this SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section are 
minor, and any slight effect they will have on burdens and associated 
costs should be to reduce them.

II. Regulatory Analysis

Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' and 
Executive Order 13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review''

    Executive Order 12866, as supplemented by Executive Order 13563, 
directs each Federal agency to: Propose regulations only after 
determining that benefits justify costs; tailor regulations to minimize 
burdens on society, consistent with achieving regulatory objectives; 
maximize net benefits when selecting among regulatory approaches; to 
the extent feasible, specify performance objectives rather than the 
behavior or manner of compliance; and seek the views of those likely to 
be affected before issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking, where 
feasible and appropriate. The Department of Defense has determined that 
a regulatory implementation that includes a standard format for 
organizing the content of DoD Components' grant and cooperative 
agreement awards will maximize long-term benefits in relation to costs 
and burdens for recipients of those awards. This rule has been 
designated a ``significant regulatory action'' under section 3(f) of 
Executive Order 12866,

[[Page 78372]]

although not an economically significant one. Accordingly, the rule has 
been reviewed by OMB.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Unfunded 
Mandates Act) (2 U.S.C. 1532) requires that a Federal agency prepare a 
budgetary impact statement before issuing a rule that includes any 
Federal mandate that may result in the expenditure in any one year by 
State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the 
private sector, of $100 million or more in 1995 dollars, updated 
annually for inflation. In 2015, that inflation-adjusted amount in 
current dollars is approximately $146 million. The Department of 
Defense has determined that this proposed regulatory action will not 
result in expenditures by State, local, and tribal governments, or by 
the private sector, of that amount or more in any one year.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires an agency that is proposing 
a rule to provide a regulatory flexibility analysis or to certify that 
the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. The Department of Defense certifies that this 
proposed regulatory action will not have a significant economic impact 
on substantial number of small entities beyond any impact due to 
provisions of it that implement OMB guidance at 2 CFR part 200.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35; 5 CFR part 1320, appendix A.1) (PRA), the Department of 
Defense has determined that there are no new collections of information 
contained in this proposed regulatory action.

Executive Order 13132, ``Federalism''

    Executive Order 13132 establishes certain requirements that an 
agency must meet when it proposes a regulation that has Federalism 
implications. This proposed regulatory action does not have any 
Federalism implications.

List of Subjects in 2 CFR Part 1120

    Business and Industry, Colleges and universities, Cooperative 
agreements, Grants administration, Hospitals, Indians, Nonprofit 
organizations, Small business, State and local governments.


0
Accordingly, 2 CFR chapter XI, subchapter C is proposed to be amended 
by adding part 1120 to read as follows:

PART 1120--FORMAT FOR DOD GRANT AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT AWARDS

Sec.
1120.1 Purpose of this part.
1120.2 Applicability of this part.
1120.3 DoD Component implementation.
1120.4 Elements and subelements of the standard award format in 
relation to the organization of this part.
Subpart A--Award Cover Pages
1120.100 Purpose of the award cover pages.
1120.105 Content of the award cover pages.
1120.110 Use of alternative to DoD form.
Subpart B--Award-specific Terms and Conditions
1120.200 Purpose and inclusion of award-specific terms and 
conditions.
1120.205 Organization and wording of award-specific terms and 
conditions.
Subpart C--General Terms and Conditions
1120.300 Purpose of general terms and conditions.
1120.305 Requirement for general terms and conditions.
1120.310 Use of plain language.
1120.315 Availability of general terms and conditions.
Subpart D--Preamble to the General Terms and Conditions
1120.400 Requirement to include a preamble.
1120.405 Content of the preamble.
Subpart E--Administrative Requirements Portion of the General Terms and 
Conditions
1120.500 Scope of administrative requirements.
1120.505 Location of administrative requirements in the standard 
award format.
1120.510 Sources of administrative requirements.
1120.515 Incorporation of administrative requirements into general 
terms and conditions by reference.
Subpart F--National Policy Requirements Portion of the General Terms 
and Conditions
1120.600 Scope of national policy requirements.
1120.605 Location of national policy requirements in the standard 
award format.
1120.610 Source of national policy requirements.
1120.615 Incorporation of national policy requirements into general 
terms and conditions by reference.
Subpart G--Programmatic Requirements Portion of the General Terms and 
Conditions
1120.700 Scope of programmatic requirements.
1120.705 Location of programmatic requirements in the standard award 
format.
1120.710 Examples of programmatic requirements.

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301 and 10 U.S.C. 113.


Sec.  1120.1  Purpose of this part.

    This part of the DoD Grant and Agreement Regulations (DoDGARs) 
establishes a standard format for DoD Components' grant and cooperative 
agreement awards. It thereby makes the content easier for a recipient 
to locate in different DoD Components' awards.


Sec.  1120.2  Applicability of this part.

    (a) To whom it applies. This part:
    (1) Sets forth requirements for DoD Components that award grants 
and cooperative agreements.
    (2) Does not impose requirements on recipients of DoD Components' 
awards.
    (b) To what awards it applies. This part applies to grants and 
cooperative agreements, other than Technology Investment Agreements 
(TIAs), awarded to any type of recipient entity.


Sec.  1120.3  DoD Component implementation.

    Each DoD Component that awards grants or cooperative agreements 
must:
    (a) Conform the format of its awards to the standard format 
established by this part no later than [18 months after the effective 
date of the final rule].
    (b) Update electronic systems it maintains for generating awards 
within 18 months of the issuance of a new or updated DoD form for the 
award cover pages, in order to implement that form in those systems, 
unless it has an approved deviation in accordance with Sec.  1120.110.


Sec.  1120.4   Elements and subelements of the standard award format in 
relation to the organization of this part.

    (a) The standard award format has three major elements that are 
designated as Divisions I through III of the award.
    (1) The first major element of the standard award format is 
comprised of the award cover pages. It is designated as Division I of 
the award.
    (2) The second major element is comprised of any award-specific 
terms and conditions. That element is designated as Division II of the 
award.
    (3) The last of the three major elements of the standard award 
format is comprised of the general terms and conditions. That element 
is designated as Division III of the award. It has four subelements 
that are designated as Subdivisions A through D of the general terms 
and conditions.
    (i) The first subelement of the general terms and conditions is the 
preamble, which is designated as Subdivision A.
    (ii) The second subelement of the general terms and conditions is 
comprised of terms and conditions addressing administrative 
requirements. That subelement is designated as

[[Page 78373]]

Subdivision B of the general terms and conditions.
    (iii) The third subelement of the general terms and conditions is 
comprised of terms and conditions addressing national policy 
requirements. That subelement is designated as Subdivision C of the 
general terms and conditions.
    (iv) The last of the four subelements of the general terms and 
conditions is comprised of any programmatic requirements that apply to 
awards using those general terms and conditions. That subelement is 
designated as Subdivision D of the general terms and conditions.
    (b) This part has seven subparts. Each subpart addresses one major 
element or subelement of the standard award format, as shown in the 
following table:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Major element or subelement of the
        standard award format                 Subpart of this part
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Division I--Award cover pages....  Subpart A.
(2) Division II--Award[dash]specific   Subpart B.
 terms and conditions, if any.
(3) Division III--General terms and    Subpart C.
 conditions, comprised of four
 subelements.
(i) Subdivision A--The preamble to     Subpart D.
 the general terms and conditions.
(ii) Subdivision B--General terms and  Subpart E.
 conditions for administrative
 requirements.
(iii) Subdivision C of the--General    Subpart F.
 terms and conditions for national
 policy requirements.
(iv) Subdivision D--General terms and  Subpart G.
 conditions for programmatic
 requirements, if any.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subpart A--Award Cover Pages


Sec.  1120.100   Purpose of the award cover pages.

    The award cover pages comprise the portion of each DoD Component 
award or modification to an award that the DoD Component transmits to 
the recipient when it makes the award or modification. It:
    (a) Contains basic information about the award or modification and 
the recipient, as described in Sec.  1120.105;
    (b) Is signed by a DoD grants officer; and
    (c) Also is signed by the recipient's authorized organizational 
representative if the award or modification is a bilateral action that 
is to be signed on behalf of both the DoD Component and recipient.


Sec.  1120.105   Content of the award cover pages.

    The award cover pages of each DoD Component award or modification:
    (a) Must include, as a minimum, the following information about the 
award or modification:
    (1) The name of the DoD Component awarding office that made the 
award or modification.
    (2) The award number and, if the action is a modification, the 
modification number.
    (3) The type of award--e.g., grant or cooperative agreement.
    (4) The type of award action--e.g., new award, funding 
modification, or administrative (non-funding) modification. For an 
administrative modification, the award cover pages should include a 
brief description of the purpose of the modification (e.g., a no-cost 
extension of the end date of the period of performance).
    (5) For a new award or funding modification:
    (i) A brief description of the project or program supported by the 
award.
    (ii) The amount of the obligation or deobligation of Federal funds 
due to the current action and any accompanying change in the total 
amount of cost sharing or matching required under the award.
    (iii) The cumulative amounts of Federal funds and any corresponding 
non-Federal share obligated to date (i.e., the sums of the amounts of 
the current action and the cumulative amounts of prior obligations and 
deobligations).
    (iv) The total amount of the project costs in the currently 
approved budget through the end of the period of performance, the 
Federal share of that amount, and the non-Federal share.
    (v) The total value of the award; the Federal share of that total 
value (which includes Federal funding obligated to date; future 
incremental funding actions; and options for which amounts have been 
predetermined, whether or not they have been exercised yet); and the 
non-Federal share of that total value (i.e., total cost sharing or 
matching required under the award).
    (vi) A table such as the following may be helpful in clearly 
presenting the information described in paragraphs (a)(5)(ii) through 
(vi) of this section:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                Corresponding
                                                              Federal funds      non-Federal      Total amount
                                                                                    share
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(A) Obligated or deobligated this action..................
(B) Cumulative obligations to date, including this and
 previous actions.........................................
(C) Planned project costs in the currently approved budget
 through the end of the period of performance, to include
 any future incremental funding obligations...............
(D) Total value, which includes any unexercised options
 for which amounts were established in the award..........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (6) The obligation date (i.e., the date of the grants officer's 
signature) and, if different, the effective date.
    (7) The start date and current end date of the period of 
performance.
    (8) The statutory authority or authorities under which the award or 
modification was made.
    (9) The number and title of the program listed in the Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance under which the award or modification was 
made.
    (10) For a new award (or, as needed, in a modification that amends 
any of the following information):
    (i) Whether the project or program under the award is research and 
development (R&D). This information is needed by auditors performing 
single audits of recipients because the OMB guidance to the auditors 
treats all Federal agencies' R&D programs as a single group (or 
``cluster'') of programs for audit sampling purposes (see the Single 
Audit Act requirements implemented in subpart E of 2 CFR part 1128 and 
FMS Article V in appendix E to part 1128).
    (ii) What the award includes in addition to the cover pages--i.e., 
the:

[[Page 78374]]

    (A) Scope of work or other appropriate content to specify the goals 
and objectives of the project or program supported by the award;
    (B) Approved budget; and
    (C) General, and any award-specific, terms and conditions of the 
award.
    (iii) Where the other portions of the award listed in paragraph 
(a)(10)(ii) of this section are located. A DoD Component generally 
should indicate in the award cover pages that the award includes the 
general terms and conditions by reference and specify their location 
(see Sec.  1120.315), rather than transmit them in their entirety with 
each award.
    (iv) The order of precedence in the event of conflict among the 
general and any award-specific terms and conditions and other potential 
sources of requirements (e.g., Federal statutes).
    (v) The name of, and contact information for, the individual or 
office in the DoD responsible for post-award administration of the 
award. If there are multiple individuals and offices for different 
post-award functions (e.g., payments and property administration), the 
award cover pages should provide information about each.
    (vi) The name of, and contact information for, the DoD Component's 
program manager or other point of contact for programmatic matters.
    (b) Must include, as a minimum, the following information about the 
recipient entity:
    (1) The recipient's unique entity identifier required for its 
registration in the System for Award Management (SAM). Currently, that 
is the Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) 
number.
    (2) The recipient's business name and address, which must be the 
legal business or ``doing business as'' name and physical address in 
SAM at the time of award corresponding to the recipient's unique entity 
identifier.
    (3) The name and title of the recipient's authorized 
representative, either the individual who signed the application or 
proposal on behalf of the recipient entity or another individual 
designated by that entity.
    (4) The name of the recipient's Project or Program Director (PD) or 
Principal Investigator (PI) and his or her organization, if different 
from the name of the recipient organization. If there are multiple PD's 
or PI's, the name and organization of each should be included.
    (5) The indirect cost rate in effect at the start of the 
performance period for the award, which generally is a Governmentwide 
rate negotiated by the recipient's cognizant agency for indirect costs. 
However, this requirement does not apply--i.e., the award cover pages 
need not include the recipient's indirect cost rate--if the recipient 
entity affirms that it treats its indirect cost rate as proprietary 
information.
    (c) May also include, as applicable, elements such as:
    (1) A statement that the award can be amended only by a grants 
officer. The statement might also explain how amendments are issued.
    (2) Information about any planned, future incremental funding or 
options for which amounts were pre-determined.


Sec.  1120.110  Use of alternative to DoD form.

    (a) A DoD Component may use something other than a DoD form as its 
award cover pages only if:
    (1) There is not currently any DoD form for the award cover pages; 
or
    (2) The DoD Component obtains approval for a deviation from the 
requirement to use a DoD form from the Office of the Assistant 
Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, in accordance with 
the procedures specified in 32 CFR 21.340.
    (b) If a DoD Component does not use a DoD form for its award cover 
pages, as described in paragraph (a) of this section, its award cover 
pages must include all information specified in Sec.  1120.105.

Subpart B--Award-specific Terms and Conditions


Sec.  1120.200  Purpose and inclusion of award-specific terms and 
conditions.

    A DoD Component must include with each award, for transmission to 
the recipient, any terms and conditions needed to communicate 
requirements specific to the individual award as distinct from the more 
broadly applicable requirements in the general terms and conditions. 
For a modification to an award, only changes to previously transmitted 
terms and conditions must be included.


Sec.  1120.205  Organization and wording of award-specific terms and 
conditions.

    DoD Components should organize and word award-specific terms and 
conditions to make them as clear and easy to understand as possible for 
the benefit of recipients, award administrators, auditors, and others 
who may need to use them. The DoDGARs specify neither a standard 
organization nor standard wording for award-specific terms and 
conditions.

Subpart C--General Terms and Conditions


Sec.  1120.300  Purpose of general terms and conditions.

    The general terms and conditions comprise the portion of the award 
with requirements that apply to a class of awards (e.g., awards under a 
particular program or type of program activity, such as research or 
education, or for a class of recipients, such as for-profit entities).


Sec.  1120.305  Requirement for general terms and conditions.

    Each DoD Component must establish at least one set of general terms 
and conditions. A DoD Component may have more than one set, as it deems 
appropriate to reflect differences in its award terms and conditions 
across different programs, classes of recipients, or types of activity.


Sec.  1120.310  Use of plain language.

    (a) DoD Components must use plain language in:
    (1) General terms and conditions of grants and cooperative 
agreements to institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
organizations, States, local governments, and Indian tribes. Those 
awards are subject to the DoDGARs provisions in:
    (i) 2 CFR parts 1128 through 1138, the appendices to which provide 
standard wording for general terms and conditions addressing 
administrative requirements. That standard wording uses personal 
pronouns.
    (ii) 2 CFR part 1122, the appendices to which provide standard 
wording for general terms and conditions addressing commonly applicable 
national policy requirements. That standard wording also uses personal 
pronouns.
    (2) The national policy requirements in Subdivision B of general 
terms and conditions of grants and cooperative agreements to for-profit 
entities, which also are subject to 2 CFR part 1122.
    (b) Although the DoDGARs currently do not provide standard wording 
for terms and conditions addressing administrative requirements for use 
in awards to for-profit entities, DoD Components are strongly 
encouraged to use plain language and personal pronouns in their terms 
and conditions of those other awards. The DoDGARs provisions that 
specify the administrative requirements to incorporate into those terms 
and conditions are listed in Sec.  1120.510(b).


Sec.  1120.315  Availability of general terms and conditions.

    (a) A DoD Component that issues a program announcement under which

[[Page 78375]]

grants or cooperative agreements may be awarded must maintain on the 
Internet the general terms and conditions for those awards if:
    (1) The distribution of the program announcement is unlimited; and
    (2) The DoD Component anticipates making 10 or more awards per year 
using those general terms and conditions.
    (b) Each DoD Component that maintains a set of general terms and 
conditions on the Internet must also maintain an archive of previous 
versions of that set at the same Internet location, for use by 
recipients, post-award administrators, auditors, and others. Each 
version must be labeled with its effective dates.
    (c) If a DoD Component has a set of general terms and conditions 
that is not subject to the requirement in paragraph (a) of this section 
and the DoD Component chooses not to maintain that set on the Internet:
    (1) It must tell potential applicants or proposers in the program 
announcement, if there is one, how they may view or obtain a copy of 
the general terms and conditions; or
    (2) If there is no program announcement (e.g., if it is a 
noncompetitive program for which all recipients are known in advance), 
the DoD Component must provide the general terms and conditions to each 
recipient no later than the time of award.

Subpart D--Preamble to the General Terms and Conditions


Sec.  1120.400  Requirement to include a preamble.

    Each DoD Component must include a preamble as Subdivision A of each 
set of general terms and conditions it maintains, to provide 
information to help recipients understand how to use those terms and 
conditions.


Sec.  1120.405  Content of the preamble.

    The preamble for each set of general terms and conditions must 
include at least the following information elements, organized in the 
order shown:
    (a) Table of contents. This should show the articles within each 
other subdivision of the general terms and conditions (Subdivisions B 
and C for administrative and national policy requirements and, if 
needed, Subdivision D for programmatic requirements).
    (b) Scope. This element identifies the programs, types of awards, 
and types of recipient entities that are subject to the set of general 
terms and conditions.
    (c) Effective date. This is the date on which the particular 
version of the set of general terms and conditions became effective, 
which enables a recipient to easily distinguish it from any earlier or 
subsequent versions. The version date of each article within the 
general terms and conditions must be indicated in parentheses following 
the title of the article, to help a recipient identify the articles 
that changed from previous versions of the general terms and 
conditions.
    (d) English language. The purpose of this element of the preamble 
is to implement OMB guidance in 2 CFR 200.111(b) by informing each 
recipient that:
    (1) It must translate any of the award content (including 
attachments to it and any material incorporated into the award by 
reference) into another language to the extent that the recipient's 
compliance with the award's terms and conditions depends upon a 
significant number of its employees who are not fluent in English being 
able to read and comprehend that content.
    (2) If it does translate any award content into another language, 
either as required by paragraph (d)(1) of this section or at its own 
initiative, the original award content in the English language will 
take precedence in the event of an inconsistency between the award 
requirements in the English and translated versions.
    (e) Plain language. This section of the preamble is required when 
the general terms and conditions use personal pronouns, in accordance 
with Sec.  1120.310. Its purpose is to inform recipients about the 
meanings of those personal pronouns.
    (f) Definitions. Providing the definitions of words and phrases 
that are used in the general terms and conditions and defined in the 
DoDGARs is more helpful to recipients than referring them to the 
DoDGARs to find the definitions.

Subpart E--Administrative Requirements Portion of the General Terms 
and Conditions


Sec.  1120.500  Scope of administrative requirements.

    The administrative requirements in an award are post-award and 
after-the-award requirements for recipients in the following subject 
matter areas:
    (a) Financial and program management, to include financial 
management system standards, payment, allowable costs, program and 
budget revisions, audits, cost sharing or matching, and program income.
    (b) Property administration, to include title vesting, property 
management system standards, and use and disposition of tangible and 
intangible property.
    (c) Recipient procurement procedures.
    (d) Financial, programmatic, property, and other reporting.
    (e) Records retention and access, remedies, claims and disputes, 
and closeout.


Sec.  1120.505  Location of administrative requirements in the standard 
award format.

    As shown in the table in Sec.  1120.4(b), the standard award format 
includes administrative requirements as Subdivision B of the general 
terms and conditions.


Sec.  1120.510  Sources of administrative requirements.

    The source of administrative requirements is:
    (a) Subchapter D of this chapter for grant and cooperative 
agreement awards to institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
organizations, States, local governments, and Indian tribes. Subchapter 
D provides a standard set of articles into which a DoD Component 
organizes the administrative requirements. It also provides standard 
wording for the general terms and conditions in those articles, as 
explained in the overview of subchapter D in 2 CFR part 1126.
    (b) 32 CFR part 34 for grant and cooperative agreement awards to 
for-profit entities. That part of the DoDGARs specifies the 
administrative requirements for awards to those entities but does not 
provide standard articles or terms and conditions.


Sec.  1120.515  Incorporation of administrative requirements into 
general terms and conditions by reference.

    (a) For awards to institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
organizations, States, local governments, and Indian tribes, DoD 
Components are strongly encouraged to construct the portion of their 
general terms and conditions addressing administrative requirements by:
    (1) Incorporating the standard wording of each article of 
administrative requirements provided in subchapter D of this chapter 
(the standard wording of the articles is in the appendices to 2 CFR 
parts 1128 through 1138) into those general terms and conditions by 
reference; and
    (2) Stating any variations from that standard wording (e.g., any 
sections or paragraphs that the DoD Component adds, revises, or omits, 
consistent with the DoDGARs prescription for use of the standard 
wording).
    (b) Incorporating that standard wording into general terms and 
conditions by reference, rather than

[[Page 78376]]

including the full text of each article of the general terms and 
conditions, will make it easier for those who must use terms and 
conditions of multiple DoD Components' awards (e.g., recipients, DoD 
Components' post-award administrators, and auditors) to quickly 
identify how each Component's general terms and conditions differ from 
the DoD standard wording.

Subpart F--National Policy Requirements Portion of the General 
Terms and Conditions


Sec.  1120.600  Scope of national policy requirements.

    National policy requirements, as defined in 2 CFR 1122.2, are 
requirements:
    (a) That are prescribed by a statute, Executive order, policy 
guidance issued by the Executive Office of the President, or regulation 
that specifically refer to grants, cooperative agreements, or financial 
assistance in general;
    (b) With which a recipient of a grant or cooperative agreement must 
comply during the period of performance; and
    (c) That are outside subject matter areas covered by administrative 
requirements, as described in Sec.  1120.500.


Sec.  1120.605  Location of national policy requirements in the 
standard award format.

    As shown in the table in Sec.  1120.4(b), the standard award format 
includes national policy requirements as Subdivision C of the general 
terms and conditions.


Sec.  1120.610  Source of national policy requirements.

    The source of national policy requirements is 2 CFR part 1122.


Sec.  1120.615  Incorporation of national policy requirements into 
general terms and conditions by reference.

    For the same reason given in Sec.  1120.515(b), DoD Components are 
strongly encouraged to construct the portion of their general terms and 
conditions addressing national policy requirements for awards to all 
types of recipient entities, including for-profit entities, by:
    (a) Incorporating the standard wording of each article of national 
policy requirements provided in the appendices to 2 CFR part 1122 into 
those general terms and conditions by reference; and
    (b) Stating any variations from that standard wording (e.g., any 
added, omitted, or revised paragraphs, based on which national policy 
requirements apply to programs and recipients for which the general 
terms and conditions are used).

Subpart G--Programmatic Requirements Portion of the General Terms 
and Conditions


Sec.  1120.700  Scope of programmatic requirements.

    A requirement is most appropriately included in the programmatic 
requirements portion of the general terms and conditions if it:
    (a) Is not in one of the subject matter areas covered by the 
administrative requirements in Subdivision B of the general terms and 
conditions, as described in Sec.  1120.500.
    (b) Does not meet the criteria in Sec.  1120.600 for a national 
policy requirement.
    (c) Broadly applies to awards using the general terms and 
conditions. Requirements that apply to relatively few of those awards 
are more appropriately included in the award-specific terms and 
conditions of the individual awards to which they apply.
    (d) Is expected to be in effect for the foreseeable future, rather 
than for a limited period of time. For example, a requirement in an 
annual appropriations act that applies specifically to funding made 
available by that act is better addressed through the award-specific 
terms and conditions of awards or modifications to which it applies.


Sec.  1120.705  Location of programmatic requirements in the standard 
award format.

    As shown in the table in Sec.  1120.4(b), the standard award format 
includes programmatic requirements as Subdivision D of the general 
terms and conditions.


Sec.  1120.710  Examples of programmatic requirements.

    Examples of provisions appropriately included as programmatic 
requirements in Subdivision D of the general terms and conditions 
include:
    (a) Requirements for recipients to acknowledge the DoD Component's 
support in publications of results of the projects or programs 
performed under awards.
    (b) Requirements for recipients to promptly alert the DoD Component 
if they develop any information in the course of performing the 
projects or programs under their awards that, in their judgment, might 
adversely affect national security if disclosed.
    (c) Reservation of the Government's right to use non-Federal 
personnel in any aspect of post-award administration of awards, with 
appropriate nondisclosure requirements on those personnel to protect 
sensitive information about recipients or the projects or programs 
supported by their awards.

    Dated: October 19, 2016.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2016-25699 Filed 11-4-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001-06-P



                                                                        Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 215 / Monday, November 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules                                                  78369

                                                   advanced to a recipient or subrecipient                 principal purpose of the relationship is to             Dated: October 19, 2016.
                                                   to cover its estimated disbursement                     acquire property or services for the direct           Aaron Siegel,
                                                   needs for a given initial period, after                 benefit or use of the Federal Government.
                                                                                                                                                                 Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison
                                                                                                              2. A grant or cooperative agreement as the
                                                   which payment is made by way of                         instrument reflecting a relationship between
                                                                                                                                                                 Officer, Department of Defense.
                                                   reimbursement.                                          those two parties when the principal purpose          [FR Doc. 2016–25698 Filed 11–4–16; 8:45 am]
                                                   Appendix A to Part 1108—Background                      of the relationship is to carry out a public          BILLING CODE 5001–06–P
                                                                                                           purpose of support or stimulation authorized
                                                   on Assistance, Acquisition, and Terms                   by Federal statute.
                                                   for Types of Awards                                        C. The terms ‘‘acquisition’’ and
                                                                                                                                                                 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
                                                   I. Purpose of This Appendix                             ‘‘assistance’’ are defined in this part to
                                                                                                           correspond to the principal purposes
                                                      This appendix provides background                    described in paragraphs III.B.1 and 2 of this
                                                                                                                                                                 Office of the Secretary
                                                   intended to help avoid confusion about some             section, respectively. Using those terms,
                                                   terms:                                                  paragraphs III.B.1 and B.2 may be restated to         2 CFR Part 1120
                                                      A. That are used in this chapter to describe         say that grants and cooperative agreements
                                                   either types of awards that DoD Components,                                                                   [DOD–2016–OS–0052]
                                                                                                           are assistance instruments that DoD
                                                   recipients, and subrecipients make, or the              Components use at the prime tier for                  RIN 0790–AJ47
                                                   purposes for which those types of awards are            assistance purposes, as distinct from
                                                   used; and                                               procurement contracts they use at that tier for       Format for DoD Grant and Cooperative
                                                      B. For which this part provides definitions          acquisition.
                                                   that vary depending on the context within                                                                     Agreement Awards
                                                   which the terms are used.                               IV. Background: Distinguishing Types of               AGENCY:  Office of the Secretary,
                                                                                                           Recipients’ and Subrecipients’ Awards
                                                   II. Why Definitions of Some Terms are                                                                         Department of Defense (DoD).
                                                   Context-Dependent                                          A. While the Federal Grant and
                                                                                                                                                                 ACTION: Proposed rule.
                                                                                                           Cooperative Agreement Act applies to
                                                      A. The DoDGARs contain both:                         Federal agencies, it does not govern types of
                                                      1. Direction to DoD Components                                                                             SUMMARY:    This notice of proposed
                                                                                                           awards that recipients and subrecipients
                                                   concerning their award of grants and                    make, whether or not they are lower-tier
                                                                                                                                                                 rulemaking (NPRM) is the second of a
                                                   cooperative agreements at the prime tier; and           awards under a Federal prime grant or                 sequence of six NPRM documents in
                                                      2. Terms and conditions that DoD                     cooperative agreement. That statute therefore         this issue of the Federal Register that
                                                   Components include in their grants and                  does not require a recipient or subrecipient          collectively establish for DoD grants and
                                                   cooperative agreements to specify the                   to:                                                   cooperative agreements an updated
                                                   Government’s and recipients’ rights and                    1. Consider any award it makes at a lower          interim implementation of
                                                   responsibilities, including post-award                  tier under a Federal assistance award as a
                                                   requirements with which recipients’ actions                                                                   Governmentwide guidance on
                                                                                                           grant or cooperative agreement. Therefore, at         administrative requirements, cost
                                                   must comply.                                            its option, a recipient or subrecipient may
                                                      B. In some cases, the same defined term or           consider all of its lower-tier awards to be
                                                                                                                                                                 principles, and audit requirements for
                                                   two closely related terms are used in relation          ‘‘contracts.’’                                        Federal awards and make other needed
                                                   to both DoD Component actions at the prime                 2. Associate an ‘‘assistance’’ relationship,       updates to the DoD Grant and
                                                   tier and recipient or subrecipient actions at           as that term is defined in this part and used         Agreement Regulations (DoDGARs).
                                                   lower tiers under DoD Components’ awards.               in this chapter, with any lower-tier                  This NPRM adds a new DoDGARs part
                                                   But a given defined term may have meanings              transaction that it makes.                            to establish a standard format for
                                                   that differ at the two tiers. For example, in              B. However, the DoDGARs in this chapter
                                                   part because the Federal Grant and
                                                                                                                                                                 organizing the content of DoD
                                                                                                           do distinguish between two classes of lower-          Components’ grant and cooperative
                                                   Cooperative Agreement Act applies to DoD                tier transactions that recipients and
                                                   Component actions at the prime tier but not             subrecipients make: Subawards and
                                                                                                                                                                 agreement awards and modifications to
                                                   to recipient or subrecipient actions at lower           procurement transactions. The distinction             them.
                                                   tiers (see sections III and IV of this                  promotes uniformity in requirements for               DATES: To ensure that they can be
                                                   appendix):                                              lower-tier transactions under DoD grants and          considered in developing the final rule,
                                                      1. The terms ‘‘acquire’’ and ‘‘acquisition’’         cooperative agreements. It is based on a long-        comments must be received at either the
                                                   do not have precisely the same meaning in               standing distinction in OMB guidance to               Web site or mailing address indicated
                                                   conjunction with actions at the prime and               Federal agencies, currently at 2 CFR part 200,
                                                   lower tiers.                                                                                                  below by February 6, 2017.
                                                                                                           which DoD implements in this chapter.
                                                      2. The meaning of the term ‘‘procurement                C. The distinction between a subaward and          ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
                                                   contract’’ used to describe DoD Component               procurement transaction is based on the               identified by docket number, or by
                                                   prime-tier actions is not precisely the same            primary purpose of that transaction.                  Regulatory Information Number (RIN)
                                                   as the meaning of ‘‘procurement transaction’’              1. The transaction is a subaward if a              and title, by either of the following
                                                   or ‘‘contract’’ used to describe recipient or           recipient or subrecipient enters into it with         methods:
                                                   subrecipient actions at lower tiers.                    another entity at the next lower tier in order          The Web site: http://
                                                                                                           to transfer—for performance by that lower-            www.regulations.gov. Follow the
                                                   III. Background: Distinguishing Prime-Tier
                                                                                                           tier entity—a portion of the substantive
                                                   Relationships and Awards
                                                                                                           program for which the prime DoD grant or
                                                                                                                                                                 instructions at that site for submitting
                                                      A. The Federal Grant and Cooperative                 cooperative agreement provided financial              comments.
                                                   Agreement Act (31 U.S.C. chapter 63)                    assistance to the recipient. Because the                Mail: Department of Defense, Deputy
                                                   specifies that the type of award a DoD                  Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement               Chief Management Officer, Directorate
                                                   Component is to use when making a prime                 Act does not apply to the recipient or                for Oversight and Compliance, 4800
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                                                   award to a recipient is based on the nature             subrecipient, it may make a subaward as               Mark Center Drive, ATTN: Box 24,
                                                   of the relationship between the DoD                     defined in this part using an instrument that         Alexandria, VA 22350–1700.
                                                   Component and the recipient that the prime              it considers a contract.                                Instructions: All submissions must
                                                   award reflects.                                            2. The transaction is a procurement                include the agency name and docket
                                                      B. Specifically, except where another                transaction if the recipient or subrecipient
                                                   statute authorizes DoD to do otherwise, 31              enters into it in order to purchase goods or
                                                                                                                                                                 number or RIN for this Federal Register
                                                   U.S.C. chapter 63 specifies use of:                     services from the lower-tier entity that the          document. The general policy for
                                                      1. A procurement contract as the                     recipient or subrecipient needs to perform its        comments and other submissions from
                                                   instrument reflecting a relationship between            portion of the substantive program supported          the public is to make the submissions
                                                   a DoD Component and a recipient when the                by the prime DoD award.                               available for public viewing on the


                                              VerDate Sep<11>2014   19:05 Nov 04, 2016   Jkt 241001   PO 00000   Frm 00015   Fmt 4701   Sfmt 4702   E:\FR\FM\07NOP2.SGM   07NOP2


                                                   78370                Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 215 / Monday, November 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules

                                                   Internet at http://www.regulations.gov                  addresses a major element or                          elements listed in § 200.210(a) of the
                                                   without change (i.e., as they are                       subelement of the standard award                      OMB guidance, to help clarify exactly
                                                   received, including any personal                        format that the part establishes. Those               what information a DoD Component is
                                                   identifiers or contact information).                    elements and subelements of the                       to include—e.g., in the case of each
                                                   FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:                        standard award format are the:                        funding amount, whether it is the
                                                   Wade Wargo, Basic Research Office,                        • Award cover pages (addressed in                   federal share, the non-federal share, or
                                                   telephone 571–372–2941.                                 subpart A of the proposed part).                      the sum of the two.
                                                                                                             • Award-specific terms and
                                                   SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:                                                                                       • Providing clarification related to the
                                                                                                           conditions (addressed in subpart B).
                                                   I. Executive Summary                                      • General terms and conditions                      guidance in 2 CFR 200.210(a)(15) on the
                                                                                                           (addressed in subpart C), the four                    inclusion in each award of the
                                                   A. Purpose of the Regulatory Action                                                                           recipient’s indirect cost rate for the
                                                                                                           subelements of which (addressed in
                                                   1. The Need for the Regulatory Action                   subparts D through G) are the: (i)                    award. The proposed subpart A requires
                                                   and How the Action Meets That Need                      Preamble; (ii) administrative                         a DoD Component to include only the
                                                                                                           requirements; (iii) national policy                   indirect cost rate that is in effect at the
                                                      As explained in the SUPPLEMENTARY                                                                          time of the initial award. The reason is
                                                   INFORMATION section of the NPRM                         requirements; and (iv) programmatic
                                                                                                           requirements.                                         to avoid unnecessary burdens and costs
                                                   immediately preceding this one in this                                                                        of having to update information on
                                                   issue of the Federal Register, this is one                Sections I.B.1 through I.B.7 of this
                                                                                                           SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section                     cover pages throughout the life of a
                                                   of six NPRMS that collectively make                                                                           multi-year award to a for-profit or other
                                                   needed updates to the Department of                     describe these elements and
                                                                                                           subelements of the standard award                     entity that has post-determined final
                                                   Defense Grant and Agreement                                                                                   indirect cost rates and rates that vary
                                                   Regulations (DoDGARs). One purpose of                   format. Sections I.B.1 and I.B.2 describe
                                                                                                           the award cover pages and award-                      from one fiscal year to the next (note
                                                   the updating is to implement Office of                                                                        that a post-determined final rate for a
                                                   Management and Budget (OMB)                             specific terms and conditions,
                                                                                                           respectively. Section I.B.3 describes the             recipient’s fiscal year is set after the end
                                                   guidance to Federal agencies on                                                                               of that fiscal year, based on actual
                                                   administrative requirements, cost                       general terms and conditions as a whole
                                                                                                           and sections I.B.4 through 7 separately               costs).
                                                   principles, and audit requirements
                                                   applicable to Federal grants, cooperative               describe its four subelements.                           • Excepting a DoD Component from
                                                   agreements, and other assistance                        1. Award Cover Pages (Division I of the               the requirement to include the indirect
                                                   instruments (2 CFR part 200). Another                   Award)                                                cost rate on an award if the recipient of
                                                   purpose is to provide greater uniformity                                                                      the award affirms that it treats its rate
                                                                                                              Subpart A of the proposed part 1120                as proprietary information, as many for-
                                                   in the content and organization of DoD                  addresses the content of the award cover
                                                   grants and cooperative agreements made                                                                        profit and nonprofit entities do.
                                                                                                           pages and their location in Division I of
                                                   by approximately 100 offices located                    the award. The cover pages will contain                  The proposed subpart A also provides
                                                   throughout the nation and abroad.                       basic information about the award or                  for later development of a standard DoD
                                                      The regulatory action in this NPRM                   modification to the award, such as the                form for the cover pages, by mandating
                                                   contributes to the first of those purposes              name of the DoD awarding office and                   use of the form when there is one. A
                                                   by implementing provisions of the OMB                   recipient, the award number, and                      standard form will make it easier for
                                                   guidance on the minimum content that                    amount. The cover pages list what else                both recipients and DoD post-award
                                                   Federal agencies’ awards must include.                  the award includes—such as the scope                  administrators to locate basic
                                                   It also contributes to the second of those              of work, any award-specific terms and                 information they need in different DoD
                                                   purposes by:                                            conditions, and the general terms and                 awarding offices’ awards.
                                                      • Establishing additional
                                                                                                           conditions—and state where those other                2. Award-Specific Terms and
                                                   requirements for uniform content,
                                                                                                           portions of the award are located. The                Conditions (Division II of the Award)
                                                   beyond the minimum identified in the
                                                                                                           cover pages will be signed by the DoD
                                                   guidance; and                                                                                                    Subpart B of the proposed 2 CFR part
                                                      • Specifying a standard format for                   grants officer and, for a bilaterally
                                                                                                           executed award or modification, an                    1120 provides for DoD Components’
                                                   organizing the content of DoD                                                                                 inclusion of award-specific terms and
                                                   Component awards to all types of                        official the recipient entity authorizes to
                                                                                                           sign on its behalf.                                   conditions in Division II of their awards.
                                                   entities, including entities other than                                                                       Depending upon specific conditions
                                                                                                              For grants and cooperative agreements
                                                   those addressed in the OMB guidance.                                                                          pertinent to a particular award, an
                                                                                                           to institutions of higher education,
                                                   2. Legal Authorities for the Regulatory                 nonprofit organizations, States, local                awarding office may need award-
                                                   Action                                                  governments, and Indian tribes, Subpart               specific terms and conditions to
                                                      There are two statutory authorities for              A thereby implements OMB guidance in                  supplement or supersede some of the
                                                   this NPRM:                                              2 CFR 200.210(a) on the general                       general terms and conditions. The
                                                      • 10 U.S.C. 113, which establishes the               information contained in awards. The                  proposed Subpart B does not prescribe
                                                   Secretary of Defense as the head of the                 proposed Subpart A is broader than the                how to organize the content of the
                                                   Department of Defense; and                              OMB guidance in that it: (1) Specifies                award-specific terms and conditions,
                                                      • 5 U.S.C. 301, which authorizes the                 use of the format for awards to for-profit            nor does it specify standard wording for
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with PROPOSALS2




                                                   head of an Executive department to                      and other entities not addressed in the               any of them. For grants and cooperative
                                                   prescribe regulations for the governance                guidance; and (2) requires DoD                        agreements to institutions of higher
                                                   of that department and the performance                  Components’ to include more                           education, nonprofit organizations,
                                                   of its business.                                        information elements than the guidance                States, local governments, and Indian
                                                                                                           specifies. The proposed Subpart A                     tribes, the proposed Subpart B
                                                   B. Summary of the Major Provisions of                   varies in three instances from the                    implements, without variation, OMB
                                                   the Regulatory Action                                   guidance by:                                          guidance in 2 CFR 200.210(c) as it
                                                     The proposed part 1120 is organized                      • Providing more detailed                          applies to award-specific terms and
                                                   into seven subparts, each of which                      explanations of some of the information               conditions.


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                                                                        Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 215 / Monday, November 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules                                           78371

                                                   3. General Terms and Conditions                         conditions for awards to institutions of              100 DoD Component awarding offices.
                                                   (Division III of the Award)                             higher education, nonprofit                           With that standardization, recipients,
                                                      Subpart C of the proposed part 1120                  organizations, States, local governments,             auditors, DoD post-award
                                                   addresses the general terms and                         and Indian tribes to incorporate the                  administrators, and others who use the
                                                   conditions as a whole and their location                administrative requirements by                        content of DoD awards should be able
                                                                                                           reference to the portions of the                      to find what they need more quickly
                                                   in Division III of the award. The subpart
                                                                                                           DoDGARs that provide standard                         and easily within the 15,000 award
                                                   also provides for publicly posting the
                                                                                                           wording for that portion of the terms                 actions per year that the awarding
                                                   general terms and conditions, rather
                                                                                                           and conditions. For awards to those                   offices issue.
                                                   than providing them to each recipient
                                                                                                           types of recipients, subpart E also                      Another benefit of the proposed
                                                   with its award. Publicly posting them
                                                                                                           implements OMB guidance in 2 CFR                      regulatory action is the encouragement
                                                   should make it easy for a potential
                                                                                                           200.210(b)(1)(i), without variation.                  for DoD Components to incorporate
                                                   proposer to review the requirements
                                                                                                           6. National Policy Requirements Portion               DoD-wide standard wording for
                                                   with which it would have to comply if
                                                                                                           of the General Terms and Conditions                   administrative and national policy
                                                   its proposal was successful. For grants
                                                                                                           (Subdivision C of Division III of the                 requirements into their general terms
                                                   and cooperative agreements to
                                                                                                           Award)                                                and conditions by reference. This
                                                   institutions of higher education,
                                                                                                                                                                 approach makes it easier for recipients
                                                   nonprofit organizations, States, local                     The proposed content of subpart F of               and others who use the terms and
                                                   governments, and Indian tribes, the                     part 1120 provides direction to DoD                   conditions to much more quickly
                                                   subpart implements OMB guidance in 2                    Components concerning the scope,                      identify how each awarding office’s
                                                   CFR 200.210(b), without variation.                      source, and location within the award                 general terms and conditions vary from
                                                   4. Preamble to the General Terms and                    format of national policy requirements.               the DoD standard wording.
                                                   Conditions (Subdivision A of Division                   As the proposed subpart E does for                       The administrative burdens and
                                                   III of the Award)                                       administrative requirements, subpart F                associated costs to recipients due to the
                                                                                                           encourages a DoD Component to                         regulatory action proposed in this
                                                      Subpart D of the proposed part 1120                  incorporate the standard wording that                 NPRM are primarily those resulting
                                                   requires a DoD Component to include a                   the DoDGARs provides for commonly                     from the Governmentwide guidance to
                                                   preamble for each set of general terms                  applicable national policy requirements               agencies that OMB issued in 2 CFR part
                                                   and conditions that it maintains and                    into general terms and conditions by                  200. The few variations from the
                                                   specify its location as Subdivision A of                reference. For awards to institutions of              guidance noted in sections I.B.1 and
                                                   the general terms and conditions in                     higher education, nonprofit                           I.B.4 of this SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
                                                   Division III of the award. The subpart                  organizations, States, local governments,
                                                   requires the preamble to a set of general                                                                     section are minor, and any slight effect
                                                                                                           and Indian tribes, subpart F implements               they will have on burdens and
                                                   terms and conditions to contain                         OMB guidance in 2 CFR
                                                   important information about that set,                                                                         associated costs should be to reduce
                                                                                                           200.210(b)(1)(ii), without variation.                 them.
                                                   such as the types of awards and
                                                   recipient entities to which it applies.                 7. Programmatic Requirements Portion                  II. Regulatory Analysis
                                                   The only portion of the OMB guidance                    of the General Terms and Conditions
                                                   that relates to the proposed subpart D is               (Subdivision D of Division III of the                 Executive Order 12866, ‘‘Regulatory
                                                   the guidance in 2 CFR 200.111(b) on the                 Award)                                                Planning and Review,’’ and Executive
                                                   need for a recipient, if a significant                                                                        Order 13563, ‘‘Improving Regulation
                                                                                                              The proposed subpart G of part 1120:
                                                   portion of its employees who are                                                                              and Regulatory Review’’
                                                                                                           (1) Clarifies what the programmatic
                                                   working under a Federal agency’s award                  requirements segment of the general                      Executive Order 12866, as
                                                   are not fluent in English, to provide a                 terms and conditions includes, in                     supplemented by Executive Order
                                                   translation of the award into the                       relation to the content of the                        13563, directs each Federal agency to:
                                                   language or languages with which its                    administrative and national policy                    Propose regulations only after
                                                   employees are familiar. The proposed                    requirements; (2) provides some specific              determining that benefits justify costs;
                                                   subpart D clarifies that guidance by                    examples of programmatic                              tailor regulations to minimize burdens
                                                   stating that a recipient must translate                 requirements; and (3) specifies the                   on society, consistent with achieving
                                                   award content only to the extent that its               location of those requirements as                     regulatory objectives; maximize net
                                                   compliance with award requirements                      Subdivision D of the general terms and                benefits when selecting among
                                                   depends on employees who are not                        conditions in Division III of the award.              regulatory approaches; to the extent
                                                   fluent in English being able to read and                For awards to institutions of higher                  feasible, specify performance objectives
                                                   comprehend that content.                                education, nonprofit organizations,                   rather than the behavior or manner of
                                                                                                           States, local governments, and Indian                 compliance; and seek the views of those
                                                   5. Administrative Requirements Portion                                                                        likely to be affected before issuing a
                                                   of the General Terms and Conditions                     tribes, subpart G implements, without
                                                                                                           variation, OMB guidance in 2 CFR                      notice of proposed rulemaking, where
                                                   (Subdivision B of Division III of the                                                                         feasible and appropriate. The
                                                   Award)                                                  200.210(c) as it applies to program-
                                                                                                           specific requirements included in                     Department of Defense has determined
                                                     The proposed subpart E of part 1120                   general terms and conditions.                         that a regulatory implementation that
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                                                   specifies what the administrative                                                                             includes a standard format for
                                                   requirements portion of the general                     C. Costs and Benefits                                 organizing the content of DoD
                                                   terms and conditions covers, where it is                  The primary benefit of the regulatory               Components’ grant and cooperative
                                                   located within the award, and which                     action proposed in this NPRM results                  agreement awards will maximize long-
                                                   DoDGARs part or parts governs the                       from its standardization of the location              term benefits in relation to costs and
                                                   administrative requirements for awards                  of basic information about the award                  burdens for recipients of those awards.
                                                   to different types of recipients. It also               and requirements for recipients                       This rule has been designated a
                                                   encourages a DoD Component that is                      contained in award terms and                          ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ under
                                                   constructing general terms and                          conditions across awards made by about                section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866,


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                                                   78372                Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 215 / Monday, November 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules

                                                   although not an economically                            PART 1120—FORMAT FOR DOD                                Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301 and 10 U.S.C. 113.
                                                   significant one. Accordingly, the rule                  GRANT AND COOPERATIVE                                 § 1120.1   Purpose of this part.
                                                   has been reviewed by OMB.                               AGREEMENT AWARDS
                                                                                                                                                                   This part of the DoD Grant and
                                                   Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995                    Sec.                                                  Agreement Regulations (DoDGARs)
                                                                                                           1120.1 Purpose of this part.                          establishes a standard format for DoD
                                                     Section 202 of the Unfunded                           1120.2 Applicability of this part.                    Components’ grant and cooperative
                                                   Mandates Reform Act of 1995                             1120.3 DoD Component implementation.                  agreement awards. It thereby makes the
                                                   (Unfunded Mandates Act) (2 U.S.C.                       1120.4 Elements and subelements of the
                                                                                                                                                                 content easier for a recipient to locate in
                                                   1532) requires that a Federal agency                         standard award format in relation to the
                                                                                                                organization of this part.                       different DoD Components’ awards.
                                                   prepare a budgetary impact statement
                                                   before issuing a rule that includes any                 Subpart A—Award Cover Pages                           § 1120.2   Applicability of this part.
                                                   Federal mandate that may result in the                                                                          (a) To whom it applies. This part:
                                                                                                           1120.100 Purpose of the award cover pages.
                                                   expenditure in any one year by State,                   1120.105 Content of the award cover pages.              (1) Sets forth requirements for DoD
                                                   local, and tribal governments, in the                   1120.110 Use of alternative to DoD form.              Components that award grants and
                                                   aggregate, or by the private sector, of                                                                       cooperative agreements.
                                                   $100 million or more in 1995 dollars,                   Subpart B—Award-specific Terms and
                                                                                                           Conditions                                              (2) Does not impose requirements on
                                                   updated annually for inflation. In 2015,                                                                      recipients of DoD Components’ awards.
                                                   that inflation-adjusted amount in                       1120.200 Purpose and inclusion of award-
                                                                                                                                                                   (b) To what awards it applies. This
                                                   current dollars is approximately $146                       specific terms and conditions.
                                                                                                           1120.205 Organization and wording of                  part applies to grants and cooperative
                                                   million. The Department of Defense has                      award-specific terms and conditions.              agreements, other than Technology
                                                   determined that this proposed                                                                                 Investment Agreements (TIAs), awarded
                                                   regulatory action will not result in                    Subpart C—General Terms and Conditions                to any type of recipient entity.
                                                   expenditures by State, local, and tribal                1120.300 Purpose of general terms and
                                                   governments, or by the private sector, of                   conditions.                                       § 1120.3   DoD Component implementation.
                                                   that amount or more in any one year.                    1120.305 Requirement for general terms                  Each DoD Component that awards
                                                                                                               and conditions.                                   grants or cooperative agreements must:
                                                   Regulatory Flexibility Act                              1120.310 Use of plain language.                         (a) Conform the format of its awards
                                                                                                           1120.315 Availability of general terms and
                                                     The Regulatory Flexibility Act                                                                              to the standard format established by
                                                                                                               conditions.
                                                   requires an agency that is proposing a                                                                        this part no later than [18 months after
                                                                                                           Subpart D—Preamble to the General Terms               the effective date of the final rule].
                                                   rule to provide a regulatory flexibility
                                                                                                           and Conditions                                          (b) Update electronic systems it
                                                   analysis or to certify that the rule will
                                                   not have a significant economic impact                  1120.400 Requirement to include a                     maintains for generating awards within
                                                                                                               preamble.                                         18 months of the issuance of a new or
                                                   on a substantial number of small
                                                                                                           1120.405 Content of the preamble.                     updated DoD form for the award cover
                                                   entities. The Department of Defense
                                                   certifies that this proposed regulatory                 Subpart E—Administrative Requirements                 pages, in order to implement that form
                                                   action will not have a significant                      Portion of the General Terms and                      in those systems, unless it has an
                                                   economic impact on substantial number                   Conditions                                            approved deviation in accordance with
                                                   of small entities beyond any impact due                 1120.500 Scope of administrative                      § 1120.110.
                                                   to provisions of it that implement OMB                      requirements.
                                                                                                           1120.505 Location of administrative                   § 1120.4 Elements and subelements of the
                                                   guidance at 2 CFR part 200.                                                                                   standard award format in relation to the
                                                                                                               requirements in the standard award
                                                                                                               format.                                           organization of this part.
                                                   Paperwork Reduction Act
                                                                                                           1120.510 Sources of administrative                       (a) The standard award format has
                                                     In accordance with the Paperwork                          requirements.                                     three major elements that are designated
                                                   Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.                        1120.515 Incorporation of administrative              as Divisions I through III of the award.
                                                   Chapter 35; 5 CFR part 1320, appendix                       requirements into general terms and                  (1) The first major element of the
                                                   A.1) (PRA), the Department of Defense                       conditions by reference.                          standard award format is comprised of
                                                   has determined that there are no new                    Subpart F—National Policy Requirements                the award cover pages. It is designated
                                                   collections of information contained in                 Portion of the General Terms and                      as Division I of the award.
                                                   this proposed regulatory action.                        Conditions                                               (2) The second major element is
                                                                                                           1120.600 Scope of national policy                     comprised of any award-specific terms
                                                   Executive Order 13132, ‘‘Federalism’’
                                                                                                               requirements.                                     and conditions. That element is
                                                     Executive Order 13132 establishes                     1120.605 Location of national policy                  designated as Division II of the award.
                                                   certain requirements that an agency                         requirements in the standard award                   (3) The last of the three major
                                                                                                               format.                                           elements of the standard award format
                                                   must meet when it proposes a regulation                 1120.610 Source of national policy
                                                   that has Federalism implications. This                                                                        is comprised of the general terms and
                                                                                                               requirements.
                                                   proposed regulatory action does not                     1120.615 Incorporation of national policy             conditions. That element is designated
                                                   have any Federalism implications.                           requirements into general terms and               as Division III of the award. It has four
                                                                                                               conditions by reference.                          subelements that are designated as
                                                   List of Subjects in 2 CFR Part 1120                                                                           Subdivisions A through D of the general
                                                                                                           Subpart G—Programmatic Requirements
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                                                     Business and Industry, Colleges and                                                                         terms and conditions.
                                                                                                           Portion of the General Terms and
                                                   universities, Cooperative agreements,                   Conditions
                                                                                                                                                                    (i) The first subelement of the general
                                                   Grants administration, Hospitals,                                                                             terms and conditions is the preamble,
                                                                                                           1120.700 Scope of programmatic
                                                   Indians, Nonprofit organizations, Small                                                                       which is designated as Subdivision A.
                                                                                                               requirements.
                                                   business, State and local governments.                  1120.705 Location of programmatic
                                                                                                                                                                    (ii) The second subelement of the
                                                                                                               requirements in the standard award                general terms and conditions is
                                                   ■ Accordingly, 2 CFR chapter XI,                            format.                                           comprised of terms and conditions
                                                   subchapter C is proposed to be amended                  1120.710 Examples of programmatic                     addressing administrative requirements.
                                                   by adding part 1120 to read as follows:                     requirements.                                     That subelement is designated as


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                                                                              Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 215 / Monday, November 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules                                                                                      78373

                                                   Subdivision B of the general terms and                               designated as Subdivision C of the                                    That subelement is designated as
                                                   conditions.                                                          general terms and conditions.                                         Subdivision D of the general terms and
                                                     (iii) The third subelement of the                                    (iv) The last of the four subelements                               conditions.
                                                   general terms and conditions is                                      of the general terms and conditions is                                  (b) This part has seven subparts. Each
                                                   comprised of terms and conditions                                    comprised of any programmatic                                         subpart addresses one major element or
                                                   addressing national policy                                           requirements that apply to awards using                               subelement of the standard award
                                                   requirements. That subelement is                                     those general terms and conditions.                                   format, as shown in the following table:

                                                                                                Major element or subelement of the standard award format                                                                            Subpart of this part

                                                   (1) Division I—Award cover pages .............................................................................................................................................   Subpart   A.
                                                   (2) Division II—Award-specific terms and conditions, if any ......................................................................................................               Subpart   B.
                                                   (3) Division III—General terms and conditions, comprised of four subelements .......................................................................                             Subpart   C.
                                                   (i) Subdivision A—The preamble to the general terms and conditions ......................................................................................                        Subpart   D.
                                                   (ii) Subdivision B—General terms and conditions for administrative requirements ...................................................................                              Subpart   E.
                                                   (iii) Subdivision C of the—General terms and conditions for national policy requirements .......................................................                                 Subpart   F.
                                                   (iv) Subdivision D—General terms and conditions for programmatic requirements, if any .......................................................                                    Subpart   G.



                                                   Subpart A—Award Cover Pages                                            (a) Must include, as a minimum, the                                 sharing or matching required under the
                                                                                                                        following information about the award                                 award.
                                                   § 1120.100           Purpose of the award cover                      or modification:                                                         (iii) The cumulative amounts of
                                                   pages.                                                                 (1) The name of the DoD Component                                   Federal funds and any corresponding
                                                      The award cover pages comprise the                                awarding office that made the award or                                non-Federal share obligated to date (i.e.,
                                                   portion of each DoD Component award                                  modification.                                                         the sums of the amounts of the current
                                                   or modification to an award that the                                   (2) The award number and, if the                                    action and the cumulative amounts of
                                                   DoD Component transmits to the                                       action is a modification, the                                         prior obligations and deobligations).
                                                   recipient when it makes the award or                                 modification number.                                                     (iv) The total amount of the project
                                                                                                                          (3) The type of award—e.g., grant or                                costs in the currently approved budget
                                                   modification. It:
                                                                                                                        cooperative agreement.                                                through the end of the period of
                                                      (a) Contains basic information about                                (4) The type of award action—e.g.,
                                                   the award or modification and the                                                                                                          performance, the Federal share of that
                                                                                                                        new award, funding modification, or
                                                   recipient, as described in § 1120.105;                                                                                                     amount, and the non-Federal share.
                                                                                                                        administrative (non-funding)
                                                                                                                        modification. For an administrative                                      (v) The total value of the award; the
                                                      (b) Is signed by a DoD grants officer;                                                                                                  Federal share of that total value (which
                                                   and                                                                  modification, the award cover pages
                                                                                                                        should include a brief description of the                             includes Federal funding obligated to
                                                      (c) Also is signed by the recipient’s                             purpose of the modification (e.g., a no-                              date; future incremental funding
                                                   authorized organizational representative                             cost extension of the end date of the                                 actions; and options for which amounts
                                                   if the award or modification is a                                    period of performance).                                               have been predetermined, whether or
                                                   bilateral action that is to be signed on                               (5) For a new award or funding                                      not they have been exercised yet); and
                                                   behalf of both the DoD Component and                                 modification:                                                         the non-Federal share of that total value
                                                   recipient.                                                             (i) A brief description of the project or                           (i.e., total cost sharing or matching
                                                                                                                        program supported by the award.                                       required under the award).
                                                   § 1120.105        Content of the award cover
                                                                                                                          (ii) The amount of the obligation or                                   (vi) A table such as the following may
                                                   pages.
                                                                                                                        deobligation of Federal funds due to the                              be helpful in clearly presenting the
                                                     The award cover pages of each DoD                                  current action and any accompanying                                   information described in paragraphs
                                                   Component award or modification:                                     change in the total amount of cost                                    (a)(5)(ii) through (vi) of this section:

                                                                                                                                                                                                              Corresponding
                                                                                                                                                                                  Federal funds                non-Federal              Total amount
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  share

                                                   (A) Obligated or deobligated this action.
                                                   (B) Cumulative obligations to date, including this and previous actions.
                                                   (C) Planned project costs in the currently approved budget through the end of the pe-
                                                     riod of performance, to include any future incremental funding obligations.
                                                   (D) Total value, which includes any unexercised options for which amounts were es-
                                                     tablished in the award.



                                                     (6) The obligation date (i.e., the date                            Domestic Assistance under which the                                   guidance to the auditors treats all
                                                   of the grants officer’s signature) and, if                           award or modification was made.                                       Federal agencies’ R&D programs as a
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                                                   different, the effective date.                                         (10) For a new award (or, as needed,                                single group (or ‘‘cluster’’) of programs
                                                     (7) The start date and current end date                            in a modification that amends any of the                              for audit sampling purposes (see the
                                                   of the period of performance.                                        following information):                                               Single Audit Act requirements
                                                     (8) The statutory authority or                                       (i) Whether the project or program                                  implemented in subpart E of 2 CFR part
                                                   authorities under which the award or                                 under the award is research and                                       1128 and FMS Article V in appendix E
                                                   modification was made.                                               development (R&D). This information is                                to part 1128).
                                                     (9) The number and title of the                                    needed by auditors performing single                                    (ii) What the award includes in
                                                   program listed in the Catalog of Federal                             audits of recipients because the OMB                                  addition to the cover pages—i.e., the:


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                                                   78374                Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 215 / Monday, November 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules

                                                      (A) Scope of work or other                           costs. However, this requirement does                 Subpart C—General Terms and
                                                   appropriate content to specify the goals                not apply—i.e., the award cover pages                 Conditions
                                                   and objectives of the project or program                need not include the recipient’s indirect
                                                   supported by the award;                                 cost rate—if the recipient entity affirms             § 1120.300 Purpose of general terms and
                                                      (B) Approved budget; and                                                                                   conditions.
                                                                                                           that it treats its indirect cost rate as
                                                      (C) General, and any award-specific,                 proprietary information.                                The general terms and conditions
                                                   terms and conditions of the award.                                                                            comprise the portion of the award with
                                                                                                             (c) May also include, as applicable,                requirements that apply to a class of
                                                      (iii) Where the other portions of the
                                                                                                           elements such as:                                     awards (e.g., awards under a particular
                                                   award listed in paragraph (a)(10)(ii) of
                                                   this section are located. A DoD                           (1) A statement that the award can be               program or type of program activity,
                                                   Component generally should indicate in                  amended only by a grants officer. The                 such as research or education, or for a
                                                   the award cover pages that the award                    statement might also explain how                      class of recipients, such as for-profit
                                                   includes the general terms and                          amendments are issued.                                entities).
                                                   conditions by reference and specify                       (2) Information about any planned,                  § 1120.305 Requirement for general terms
                                                   their location (see § 1120.315), rather                 future incremental funding or options                 and conditions.
                                                   than transmit them in their entirety with               for which amounts were pre-                              Each DoD Component must establish
                                                   each award.                                             determined.
                                                      (iv) The order of precedence in the                                                                        at least one set of general terms and
                                                   event of conflict among the general and                 § 1120.110    Use of alternative to DoD form.         conditions. A DoD Component may
                                                   any award-specific terms and conditions                                                                       have more than one set, as it deems
                                                                                                             (a) A DoD Component may use                         appropriate to reflect differences in its
                                                   and other potential sources of                          something other than a DoD form as its
                                                   requirements (e.g., Federal statutes).                                                                        award terms and conditions across
                                                                                                           award cover pages only if:                            different programs, classes of recipients,
                                                      (v) The name of, and contact
                                                   information for, the individual or office                 (1) There is not currently any DoD                  or types of activity.
                                                   in the DoD responsible for post-award                   form for the award cover pages; or                    § 1120.310   Use of plain language.
                                                   administration of the award. If there are                 (2) The DoD Component obtains                         (a) DoD Components must use plain
                                                   multiple individuals and offices for                    approval for a deviation from the                     language in:
                                                   different post-award functions (e.g.,                   requirement to use a DoD form from the                  (1) General terms and conditions of
                                                   payments and property administration),                  Office of the Assistant Secretary of                  grants and cooperative agreements to
                                                   the award cover pages should provide                    Defense for Research and Engineering,                 institutions of higher education,
                                                   information about each.                                 in accordance with the procedures                     nonprofit organizations, States, local
                                                      (vi) The name of, and contact                        specified in 32 CFR 21.340.                           governments, and Indian tribes. Those
                                                   information for, the DoD Component’s                                                                          awards are subject to the DoDGARs
                                                                                                             (b) If a DoD Component does not use
                                                   program manager or other point of                                                                             provisions in:
                                                                                                           a DoD form for its award cover pages,
                                                   contact for programmatic matters.                                                                               (i) 2 CFR parts 1128 through 1138, the
                                                      (b) Must include, as a minimum, the                  as described in paragraph (a) of this
                                                                                                           section, its award cover pages must                   appendices to which provide standard
                                                   following information about the                                                                               wording for general terms and
                                                   recipient entity:                                       include all information specified in
                                                                                                           § 1120.105.                                           conditions addressing administrative
                                                      (1) The recipient’s unique entity                                                                          requirements. That standard wording
                                                   identifier required for its registration in                                                                   uses personal pronouns.
                                                   the System for Award Management                         Subpart B—Award-specific Terms and
                                                                                                           Conditions                                              (ii) 2 CFR part 1122, the appendices
                                                   (SAM). Currently, that is the Dun and                                                                         to which provide standard wording for
                                                   Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering                     § 1120.200 Purpose and inclusion of                   general terms and conditions addressing
                                                   System (DUNS) number.                                   award-specific terms and conditions.                  commonly applicable national policy
                                                      (2) The recipient’s business name and                                                                      requirements. That standard wording
                                                   address, which must be the legal                          A DoD Component must include with
                                                                                                           each award, for transmission to the                   also uses personal pronouns.
                                                   business or ‘‘doing business as’’ name                                                                          (2) The national policy requirements
                                                   and physical address in SAM at the time                 recipient, any terms and conditions
                                                                                                           needed to communicate requirements                    in Subdivision B of general terms and
                                                   of award corresponding to the                                                                                 conditions of grants and cooperative
                                                   recipient’s unique entity identifier.                   specific to the individual award as
                                                                                                           distinct from the more broadly                        agreements to for-profit entities, which
                                                      (3) The name and title of the                                                                              also are subject to 2 CFR part 1122.
                                                   recipient’s authorized representative,                  applicable requirements in the general
                                                                                                                                                                   (b) Although the DoDGARs currently
                                                   either the individual who signed the                    terms and conditions. For a
                                                                                                                                                                 do not provide standard wording for
                                                   application or proposal on behalf of the                modification to an award, only changes
                                                                                                                                                                 terms and conditions addressing
                                                   recipient entity or another individual                  to previously transmitted terms and
                                                                                                                                                                 administrative requirements for use in
                                                   designated by that entity.                              conditions must be included.
                                                                                                                                                                 awards to for-profit entities, DoD
                                                      (4) The name of the recipient’s Project                                                                    Components are strongly encouraged to
                                                                                                           § 1120.205 Organization and wording of
                                                   or Program Director (PD) or Principal                   award-specific terms and conditions.                  use plain language and personal
                                                   Investigator (PI) and his or her                                                                              pronouns in their terms and conditions
                                                   organization, if different from the name                  DoD Components should organize and                  of those other awards. The DoDGARs
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                                                   of the recipient organization. If there are             word award-specific terms and                         provisions that specify the
                                                   multiple PD’s or PI’s, the name and                     conditions to make them as clear and                  administrative requirements to
                                                   organization of each should be                          easy to understand as possible for the                incorporate into those terms and
                                                   included.                                               benefit of recipients, award                          conditions are listed in § 1120.510(b).
                                                      (5) The indirect cost rate in effect at              administrators, auditors, and others who
                                                   the start of the performance period for                 may need to use them. The DoDGARs                     § 1120.315 Availability of general terms
                                                   the award, which generally is a                         specify neither a standard organization               and conditions.
                                                   Governmentwide rate negotiated by the                   nor standard wording for award-specific                 (a) A DoD Component that issues a
                                                   recipient’s cognizant agency for indirect               terms and conditions.                                 program announcement under which


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                                                                          Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 215 / Monday, November 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules                                             78375

                                                   grants or cooperative agreements may be                   of general terms and conditions became                and disposition of tangible and
                                                   awarded must maintain on the Internet                     effective, which enables a recipient to               intangible property.
                                                   the general terms and conditions for                      easily distinguish it from any earlier or               (c) Recipient procurement procedures.
                                                   those awards if:                                          subsequent versions. The version date of                (d) Financial, programmatic, property,
                                                      (1) The distribution of the program                    each article within the general terms                 and other reporting.
                                                   announcement is unlimited; and                            and conditions must be indicated in                     (e) Records retention and access,
                                                      (2) The DoD Component anticipates                      parentheses following the title of the                remedies, claims and disputes, and
                                                   making 10 or more awards per year                         article, to help a recipient identify the             closeout.
                                                   using those general terms and                             articles that changed from previous                   § 1120.505 Location of administrative
                                                   conditions.                                               versions of the general terms and                     requirements in the standard award format.
                                                      (b) Each DoD Component that                            conditions.
                                                   maintains a set of general terms and                                                                              As shown in the table in § 1120.4(b),
                                                                                                                (d) English language. The purpose of               the standard award format includes
                                                   conditions on the Internet must also                      this element of the preamble is to
                                                   maintain an archive of previous                                                                                 administrative requirements as
                                                                                                             implement OMB guidance in 2 CFR                       Subdivision B of the general terms and
                                                   versions of that set at the same Internet                 200.111(b) by informing each recipient
                                                   location, for use by recipients, post-                                                                          conditions.
                                                                                                             that:
                                                   award administrators, auditors, and                          (1) It must translate any of the award             § 1120.510 Sources of administrative
                                                   others. Each version must be labeled                      content (including attachments to it and              requirements.
                                                   with its effective dates.                                 any material incorporated into the                      The source of administrative
                                                      (c) If a DoD Component has a set of                    award by reference) into another                      requirements is:
                                                   general terms and conditions that is not                  language to the extent that the                         (a) Subchapter D of this chapter for
                                                   subject to the requirement in paragraph                   recipient’s compliance with the award’s               grant and cooperative agreement awards
                                                   (a) of this section and the DoD                           terms and conditions depends upon a                   to institutions of higher education,
                                                   Component chooses not to maintain that                    significant number of its employees who               nonprofit organizations, States, local
                                                   set on the Internet:                                      are not fluent in English being able to               governments, and Indian tribes.
                                                      (1) It must tell potential applicants or
                                                                                                             read and comprehend that content.                     Subchapter D provides a standard set of
                                                   proposers in the program                                     (2) If it does translate any award                 articles into which a DoD Component
                                                   announcement, if there is one, how they                   content into another language, either as              organizes the administrative
                                                   may view or obtain a copy of the general                  required by paragraph (d)(1) of this                  requirements. It also provides standard
                                                   terms and conditions; or                                  section or at its own initiative, the
                                                      (2) If there is no program                                                                                   wording for the general terms and
                                                                                                             original award content in the English                 conditions in those articles, as
                                                   announcement (e.g., if it is a
                                                                                                             language will take precedence in the                  explained in the overview of subchapter
                                                   noncompetitive program for which all
                                                                                                             event of an inconsistency between the                 D in 2 CFR part 1126.
                                                   recipients are known in advance), the
                                                                                                             award requirements in the English and                   (b) 32 CFR part 34 for grant and
                                                   DoD Component must provide the
                                                                                                             translated versions.                                  cooperative agreement awards to for-
                                                   general terms and conditions to each
                                                                                                                (e) Plain language. This section of the            profit entities. That part of the
                                                   recipient no later than the time of
                                                                                                             preamble is required when the general                 DoDGARs specifies the administrative
                                                   award.
                                                                                                             terms and conditions use personal                     requirements for awards to those
                                                   Subpart D—Preamble to the General                         pronouns, in accordance with                          entities but does not provide standard
                                                   Terms and Conditions                                      § 1120.310. Its purpose is to inform                  articles or terms and conditions.
                                                                                                             recipients about the meanings of those
                                                   § 1120.400       Requirement to include a                 personal pronouns.                                    § 1120.515 Incorporation of administrative
                                                   preamble.                                                                                                       requirements into general terms and
                                                                                                                (f) Definitions. Providing the
                                                                                                                                                                   conditions by reference.
                                                     Each DoD Component must include a                       definitions of words and phrases that
                                                   preamble as Subdivision A of each set                     are used in the general terms and                        (a) For awards to institutions of higher
                                                   of general terms and conditions it                        conditions and defined in the DoDGARs                 education, nonprofit organizations,
                                                   maintains, to provide information to                      is more helpful to recipients than                    States, local governments, and Indian
                                                   help recipients understand how to use                     referring them to the DoDGARs to find                 tribes, DoD Components are strongly
                                                   those terms and conditions.                               the definitions.                                      encouraged to construct the portion of
                                                                                                                                                                   their general terms and conditions
                                                   § 1120.405       Content of the preamble.                 Subpart E—Administrative                              addressing administrative requirements
                                                     The preamble for each set of general                    Requirements Portion of the General                   by:
                                                   terms and conditions must include at                      Terms and Conditions                                     (1) Incorporating the standard
                                                   least the following information                                                                                 wording of each article of administrative
                                                   elements, organized in the order shown:                   § 1120.500 Scope of administrative                    requirements provided in subchapter D
                                                     (a) Table of contents. This should                      requirements.                                         of this chapter (the standard wording of
                                                   show the articles within each other                         The administrative requirements in an               the articles is in the appendices to 2
                                                   subdivision of the general terms and                      award are post-award and after-the-                   CFR parts 1128 through 1138) into those
                                                   conditions (Subdivisions B and C for                      award requirements for recipients in the              general terms and conditions by
                                                   administrative and national policy                        following subject matter areas:                       reference; and
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                                                   requirements and, if needed,                                (a) Financial and program                              (2) Stating any variations from that
                                                   Subdivision D for programmatic                            management, to include financial                      standard wording (e.g., any sections or
                                                   requirements).                                            management system standards,                          paragraphs that the DoD Component
                                                     (b) Scope. This element identifies the                  payment, allowable costs, program and                 adds, revises, or omits, consistent with
                                                   programs, types of awards, and types of                   budget revisions, audits, cost sharing or             the DoDGARs prescription for use of the
                                                   recipient entities that are subject to the                matching, and program income.                         standard wording).
                                                   set of general terms and conditions.                        (b) Property administration, to                        (b) Incorporating that standard
                                                     (c) Effective date. This is the date on                 include title vesting, property                       wording into general terms and
                                                   which the particular version of the set                   management system standards, and use                  conditions by reference, rather than


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                                                   78376                Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 215 / Monday, November 7, 2016 / Proposed Rules

                                                   including the full text of each article of              Subpart G—Programmatic                                projects or programs supported by their
                                                   the general terms and conditions, will                  Requirements Portion of the General                   awards.
                                                   make it easier for those who must use                   Terms and Conditions                                    Dated: October 19, 2016.
                                                   terms and conditions of multiple DoD                                                                          Aaron Siegel,
                                                   Components’ awards (e.g., recipients,                   § 1120.700 Scope of programmatic
                                                                                                           requirements.                                         Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison
                                                   DoD Components’ post-award
                                                                                                             A requirement is most appropriately                 Officer, Department of Defense.
                                                   administrators, and auditors) to quickly
                                                                                                           included in the programmatic                          [FR Doc. 2016–25699 Filed 11–4–16; 8:45 am]
                                                   identify how each Component’s general
                                                   terms and conditions differ from the                    requirements portion of the general                   BILLING CODE 5001–06–P

                                                   DoD standard wording.                                   terms and conditions if it:
                                                                                                             (a) Is not in one of the subject matter
                                                   Subpart F—National Policy                               areas covered by the administrative                   DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
                                                   Requirements Portion of the General                     requirements in Subdivision B of the
                                                   Terms and Conditions                                                                                          Office of the Secretary
                                                                                                           general terms and conditions, as
                                                                                                           described in § 1120.500.                              2 CFR Part 1122
                                                   § 1120.600 Scope of national policy
                                                   requirements.                                             (b) Does not meet the criteria in
                                                                                                           § 1120.600 for a national policy                      [DOD–2016–OS–0053]
                                                      National policy requirements, as
                                                                                                           requirement.                                          RIN 0790–AJ48
                                                   defined in 2 CFR 1122.2, are
                                                   requirements:                                             (c) Broadly applies to awards using
                                                      (a) That are prescribed by a statute,                the general terms and conditions.                     National Policy Requirements: General
                                                   Executive order, policy guidance issued                 Requirements that apply to relatively                 Award Terms and Conditions
                                                   by the Executive Office of the President,               few of those awards are more
                                                                                                           appropriately included in the award-                  AGENCY:  Office of the Secretary,
                                                   or regulation that specifically refer to                                                                      Department of Defense (DoD).
                                                   grants, cooperative agreements, or                      specific terms and conditions of the
                                                                                                           individual awards to which they apply.                ACTION: Proposed rule.
                                                   financial assistance in general;
                                                      (b) With which a recipient of a grant                  (d) Is expected to be in effect for the             SUMMARY:    This notice of proposed
                                                   or cooperative agreement must comply                    foreseeable future, rather than for a                 rulemaking (NPRM) is the fourth of a
                                                   during the period of performance; and                   limited period of time. For example, a                sequence of six NPRM documents in
                                                      (c) That are outside subject matter                  requirement in an annual                              this issue of the Federal Register. This
                                                   areas covered by administrative                         appropriations act that applies                       NPRM proposes to add a new
                                                   requirements, as described in                           specifically to funding made available                Department of Defense Grant and
                                                   § 1120.500.                                             by that act is better addressed through               Agreement Regulations (DoDGARs) part
                                                                                                           the award-specific terms and conditions               to establish a consistent way for DoD
                                                   § 1120.605 Location of national policy                  of awards or modifications to which it
                                                   requirements in the standard award format.                                                                    Components to organize the portion of
                                                                                                           applies.                                              their general terms and conditions
                                                     As shown in the table in § 1120.4(b),
                                                   the standard award format includes                      § 1120.705 Location of programmatic                   covering national policy requirements
                                                   national policy requirements as                         requirements in the standard award format.            in areas such as nondiscrimination,
                                                   Subdivision C of the general terms and                    As shown in the table in § 1120.4(b),               environmental protection, and live
                                                   conditions.                                             the standard award format includes                    organisms. The new part also provides
                                                                                                           programmatic requirements as                          standard wording of terms and
                                                   § 1120.610 Source of national policy                                                                          conditions for national policy
                                                   requirements.
                                                                                                           Subdivision D of the general terms and
                                                                                                           conditions.                                           requirements that apply generally to
                                                     The source of national policy                                                                               DoD programs and awards.
                                                   requirements is 2 CFR part 1122.                        § 1120.710 Examples of programmatic                   DATES: To ensure that they can be
                                                                                                           requirements.                                         considered in developing the final rule,
                                                   § 1120.615 Incorporation of national policy
                                                   requirements into general terms and                        Examples of provisions appropriately               comments must be received at either the
                                                   conditions by reference.                                included as programmatic requirements                 Web site or mailing address indicated
                                                      For the same reason given in                         in Subdivision D of the general terms                 below by February 6, 2017.
                                                   § 1120.515(b), DoD Components are                       and conditions include:                               ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
                                                   strongly encouraged to construct the                       (a) Requirements for recipients to                 identified by docket number, or by
                                                   portion of their general terms and                      acknowledge the DoD Component’s                       Regulatory Information Number (RIN)
                                                   conditions addressing national policy                   support in publications of results of the             and title, by either of the following
                                                   requirements for awards to all types of                 projects or programs performed under                  methods:
                                                   recipient entities, including for-profit                awards.                                                  The Web site: http://
                                                   entities, by:                                              (b) Requirements for recipients to                 www.regulations.gov. Follow the
                                                      (a) Incorporating the standard                       promptly alert the DoD Component if                   instructions at that site for submitting
                                                   wording of each article of national                     they develop any information in the                   comments.
                                                   policy requirements provided in the                     course of performing the projects or                     Mail: Department of Defense, Deputy
                                                   appendices to 2 CFR part 1122 into                      programs under their awards that, in                  Chief Management Officer, Directorate
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                                                   those general terms and conditions by                   their judgment, might adversely affect                for Oversight and Compliance, 4800
                                                   reference; and                                          national security if disclosed.                       Mark Center Drive, ATTN: Box 24,
                                                      (b) Stating any variations from that                    (c) Reservation of the Government’s                Alexandria, VA 22350–1700.
                                                   standard wording (e.g., any added,                      right to use non-Federal personnel in                    Instructions: All submissions received
                                                   omitted, or revised paragraphs, based on                any aspect of post-award administration               must include the agency name and
                                                   which national policy requirements                      of awards, with appropriate                           docket number or RIN for this Federal
                                                   apply to programs and recipients for                    nondisclosure requirements on those                   Register document. The general policy
                                                   which the general terms and conditions                  personnel to protect sensitive                        for comments and other submissions
                                                   are used).                                              information about recipients or the                   from the public is to make the


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Document Created: 2018-02-14 08:21:15
Document Modified: 2018-02-14 08:21:15
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionProposed Rules
ActionProposed rule.
DatesTo ensure that they can be considered in developing the final rule, comments must be received at either the Web site or mailing
ContactWade Wargo, Basic Research Office, telephone 571-372-2941.
FR Citation81 FR 78369 
RIN Number0790-AJ47
CFR AssociatedBusiness and Industry; Colleges and Universities; Cooperative Agreements; Grants Administration; Hospitals; Indians; Nonprofit Organizations; Small Business and State and Local Governments

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