[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 31, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51862-51863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16646]
[[Page 51861]]
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Part II
Office of Management and Budget
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2 CFR Part 1, et al.
Grants Policy Streamlining Overview and Guidance on Nonprocurement
Debarment and Suspension and Cost Principles Guidance; Cost Principles
for Educational Institutions (OMB Circular A-21), State, Local, and
Indian Tribal Governments (OMB Circular A-87) and Non-Profit
Organizations (OMB Circular A-122); Final Rules
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 168 / Wednesday, August 31, 2005 /
Rules and Regulations
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
2 CFR Part 1
Grants Policy Streamlining Overview on Nonprocurement Debarment
and Suspension and Cost Principles Guidance
AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget.
ACTION: Publication of policy guidance in 2 CFR subtitle A.
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SUMMARY: This document and the four Federal Register documents
following it in this issue of the Federal Register are related to a
broad initiative that established Title 2 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) as the single location where the public can find both
OMB guidance for grants and agreements and the associated Federal
agency implementing regulations. The Federal Register document that
established Title 2 CFR (see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section)
describes this broad initiative. The initiative provides a good
foundation for streamlining and simplifying the policy framework for
grants and agreements, which is one objective of OMB and the Federal
agencies in implementing the Federal Financial Assistance Management
Improvement Act of 1999 (Pub. L. 106-107).
The Federal Register documents following this one publish four
additional parts in subtitle A, 2 CFR. These four parts contain
guidance to Federal agencies that presently is in three separate OMB
circulars and one other OMB policy document. The four documents
following this one are discussed further in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
This first document provides an overview for the sequence of the
five Federal Register documents published by OMB in this issue of the
Federal Register. It also makes changes to 2 CFR part 1, the part in 2
CFR that provides general information about the title. The changes
conform part 1 with the four parts of OMB guidance added by the
documents following this one.
DATES: The amendments this document makes to 2 CFR part 1 are effective
on August 31, 2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Phillips, Office of Federal
Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget, telephone (202)
395-3053 (direct) or (202) 395-3993 (main office) and e-mail:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 11, 2004, OMB established title 2 CFR
with two subtitles [69 FR 26276]. Subtitle A, ``Government-wide Grants
and Agreements,'' contains OMB policy guidance to Federal agencies on
grants and agreements. Subtitle B, ``Federal Agency Regulations for
Grants and Agreements,'' will contain Federal agencies' regulatory
implementation of the OMB guidance, as it applies to grants and other
financial assistance agreements and nonprocurement transactions (for
portions of the guidance applicable to procurement contracts,
implementation for procurement will continue to be in the Federal
Acquisition Regulation in title 48 CFR).
As stated in the Federal Register notice establishing title 2 CFR,
OMB plans to publish its guidance in subtitle A of that title in two
phases. In the first phase, OMB is relocating the circulars in their
current form into chapter II of subtitle A. In the second phase, OMB
will publish guidance in chapter I of subtitle A after: (1) Proposing
for public comment any changes to streamline and simplify the guidance
based on recommendations from the interagency working groups
implementing Public Law 106-107; and (2) resolving the comments and
finalizing the guidance with the help of the working groups.
The four Federal Register documents following this one publish four
OMB guidance documents in subtitle A. The first, which is the document
immediately following this one, publishes the OMB guidance on
nonprocurement debarment and suspension in subtitle A, chapter I, part
180. OMB is publishing this guidance in chapter I because the substance
is up to date, and we therefore do not expect the interagency working
groups implementing Public Law 106-107 to propose any changes to it in
the near future. The guidance is up to date because it is substantively
the same as the common rule that 33 Federal agencies recently updated
[68 FR 66534, November 26, 2003] after resolving public comments.
The other three Federal Register documents published today relocate
OMB Circulars A-21, A-87, and A-122, the OMB circulars with cost
principles, in their current form, into chapter II of subtitle A. An
interagency working group under Public Law 106-107 is still considering
proposals for streamlining these circulars. We will move the circulars
to chapter I after any streamlining is completed (any proposals for
substantive change will be published first, with an opportunity for
public comment).
Conforming changes to 2 CFR part 1. The publication of the OMB
guidance on nonprocurement debarment and suspension and OMB Circulars
A-21, A-87 and A-122 as parts 180, 220, 225, and 230 in 2 CFR warrants
conforming changes in Sec. Sec. 1.205 and 1.215 of 2 CFR part 1. The
amendment to Sec. 1.215 adds references to the four new parts to the
table in that section, to explain the relationship of the parts to
their previous issuances as OMB circulars.
The amendments to Sec. 1.205 clarify the statement in that section
that the types of instruments subject to the guidance in subtitle A of
2 CFR vary from one part of the guidance to another. With the
relocation of the cost principles in subtitle A, we are adding a
statement to clarify that all portions of the guidance in subtitle A of
2 CFR apply to grants and cooperative agreements, some portions apply
to other types of financial assistance or nonprocurement instruments,
and some portions indirectly apply to procurement contracts. We are
adding new paragraphs Sec. 1.205(b) and (c) that give:
The guidelines on debarment and suspension as an example
of guidance that applies to nonprocurement instruments in general, and
not just financial assistance; and
The cost principles in 2 CFR parts 220, 225, and 230 as
specific examples of guidance that applies to procurement, as well as
financial assistance. Circulars A-21, A-87, and A-122 always have
provided guidance to Federal agencies on costs that are allowable for
reimbursement under procurement contracts to educational, governmental,
and other nonprofit organizations, respectively. It should be noted,
however, that the regulation formally imposing that requirement on
Federal agencies' contracts is not in 2 CFR but in subparts 31.3, 31.6,
and 31.7 of 48 CFR part 31 in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
List of Subjects
2 CFR Part 1
Cooperative agreements, Grant programs, Grants administration.
Dated: August 8, 2005.
Joshua B. Bolten,
Director.
Authority and Issuance
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For the reasons set forth above, the Office of Management and Budget
amends 2 CFR, subtitle A, as follows:
PART 1--[AMENDED]
0
1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 31 U.S.C. 503; 31 U.S.C. 1111; 41 U.S.C. 405;
Reorganization Plan No. 2 of
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1970; E.O. 11541, 35 FR 10737, 3 CFR, 1966--1970, p. 939.
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2. Section 1.205 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1.205 Applicability to grants and other funding instruments.
The types of instruments that are subject to the guidance in this
subtitle vary from one portion of the guidance to another (note that
each part identifies the types of instruments to which it applies). All
portions of the guidance apply to grants and cooperative agreements,
some portions also apply to other types of financial assistance or
nonprocurement instruments, and some portions also apply to procurement
contracts. For example, the:
(a) Guidance on debarment and suspension in part 180 of this
subtitle applies broadly to all financial assistance and other
nonprocurement transactions, and not just to grants and cooperative
agreements.
(b) Cost principles in parts 220, 225 and 230 of this subtitle
apply to procurement contracts, as well as to financial assistance,
although those principles are implemented for procurement contracts
through the Federal Acquisition Regulation in Title 48 of the CFR,
rather than through Federal agency regulations on grants and agreements
in this title.
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3. Section 1.215 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1.215 Relationship to previous issuances.
Although some of the guidance was organized differently within OMB
circulars or other documents, much of the guidance in this subtitle
existed prior to the establishment of title 2 of the CFR. Specifically:
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Previously was in .
Guidance in . . . On . . . . .
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(a) Chapter I, part 180..... Nonprocurement OMB guidance that
debarment and conforms with the
suspension. government-wide
common rule (see 60
FR 33036, June 26,
1995).
(b) Chapter II, part 215.... Administrative OMB Circular A-110.
requirements for
grants and
agreements.
(c) Chapter II, part 220.... Cost principles for OMB Circular A-21.
educational
institutions.
(d) Chapter II, part 225.... Cost principles for OMB Circular A-87.
State, local, and
Indian tribal
governments.
(e) Chapter II, part 230.... Cost principles for OMB Circular A-122.
non-profit
organizations.
(f) [Reserved]. ....................
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[FR Doc. 05-16646 Filed 8-30-05; 8:45 am]
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