FSRS Registration and Prime Awardee Entity-Related Information Reporting Requirements

Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 18 / Thursday, January 27, 2011 / Notices
GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
[OMB Control No. 3090–0291; Docket No.
2010–0002; Sequence 19]

Submission for OMB Review; OMB
Control No. 3090–0291; FSRS
Registration and Prime Awardee
Entity-Related Information Reporting
Requirements
Office of Technology Strategy/
Office of Governmentwide Policy,
General Services Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Notice of request for public
comments regarding a new OMB
information clearance.
AGENCY:

Under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. chapter 35), the Regulatory
Secretariat will be submitting to the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) a request to review and approve
an emergency new information
collection requirement regarding FSRS
Registration and Prime Awardee EntityRelated Information Reporting
Requirements.
Public comments are particularly
invited on: Whether this collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of functions of the FSRS
Registration and Prime Awardee EntityRelated Information Reporting
Requirements, whether it will have
practical utility; whether our estimate of
the public burden of this collection of
information is accurate, and based on
valid assumptions and methodology;
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and ways in which we can
minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to
respond, through the use of appropriate
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
DATES: Submit comments on or before
February 28, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments
identified by Information Collection
3090–0291, FSRS Registration and
Prime Awardee Entity-Related
Information by any of the following
methods:
• Regulations.gov: http://
www.regulations.gov. Submit comments
via the Federal eRulemaking portal by
inputting ‘‘Information Collection 3090–
0291, FSRS Registration and Prime
Awardee Entity-Related Information
Reporting Requirements’’ under the
heading ‘‘Enter Keyword or ID’’ and
selecting ‘‘Search’’. Select the link
‘‘Submit a Comment’’ that corresponds
with ‘‘Information Collection 3090–
0291, FSRS Registration and Prime

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Awardee Entity-Related Information
Reporting Requirements.’’ Follow the
instructions provided at the ‘‘Submit a
Comment’’ screen. Please include your
name, company name (if any), and
‘‘Information Collection 3090–0291,
FSRS Registration and Prime Awardee
Entity-Related Information Reporting
(line up with left margin) Requirements’’
on your attached document.
• Fax: 202–501–4067.
• Mail: General Services
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat
(MVCB), 1275 First Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20417. ATTN: Hada
Flowers/IC 3090–0291.
Instructions: Please submit comments
only and cite Information Collection
3090–0291, FSRS Registration and
Prime Awardee Entity-Related
Information Reporting Requirements, in
all correspondence related to this
collection. All comments received will
be posted without change to http://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal and/or business confidential
information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Janice Miller, Program Analyst, Office of
Technology Strategy/Office of
Governmentwide Policy, GSA, at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Purpose
The Federal Funding Accountability
and Transparency Act of 2006, Public
Law 109–282 (Transparency Act)
requires information disclosure of
entities receiving Federal financial
assistance through Federal awards such
as Federal contracts, sub-contracts,
grants and sub-grants, FFATA § 2(a), (2),
(i), (ii). Beginning October 1, 2010, this
Paperwork Reduction Act submission
directs compliance with the
Transparency Act to report prime and
first-tier sub-award data. Federal
agencies and prime awardees will
ensure disclosure of Federal contract
and grant sub-award and compensation
data. This information collection
requires information necessary for
prime awardee registration into the
FFATA Subaward Reporting System
(FSRS) and review of its entity-related
information, at http://www.fsrs.gov. An
entity may be required to provide
information to include:
• DUNS number.
• Name and address of entity.
• Parent DUNS number.
• Federal Award Identification
Number (FAIN).
• CFDA Number.
• Federal Awarding Agency of the
Grant.
If a prime awardee has already
registered in the system to report

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contracts-related Transparency Act
financial data, a new log-in will not be
required.
B. Discussion of Public Comments
Burden Imposed. Two comments
were received on the burden imposed
by this information collection. One
respondent commented that it appears
from the precision of the data used to
identify the number of respondents
(49,308) GSA is relying on a specific
source rather than simply estimating a
number. Because there is no
identification about where these data on
respondents comes from, it is virtually
impossible to assess whether they are
accurate or based on valid assumptions
and methodologies. The respondent
requests that GSA and OMB publish
additional information about the
sources of data in this request so that
they can be assessed in accordance with
the letter and spirit of the Paperwork
Reduction Act. The respondent also
added that the simple round number of
.5 hours per response identified in the
estimate belies the effort that they and
other similarly situated organizations
would be required to undertake. One
respondent requested that the burden
estimate be re-evaluated.
Response: The number of respondents
(49,308) is based on the total reported
prime grant awardees reporting into
USAspending.gov in FY 2009 (see
Supporting Statement for Paperwork
Reduction Act Submission, FSRS
Registration and Prime Awardee EntityRelated Information, footnote #1, p. 10,
at http://www.reginfo.gov). The burden
time of .5 hour per response was based
on the assumption that prime grant
awardees are already required to be
registered in the Central Contractor
Registration (CCR). With a direct feed
from CCR, FSRS pulls information
associated with the prime awardee’s
DUNS number. Pre-populating entity
data from CCR into FSRS significantly
reduces the burden associated with a
prime recipient’s registration into FSRS.
As a result, prime grant awardees will
only be required to manually input a
minimal amount of contact information
when registering in FSRS.
Multiple Recipients. One comment
was received expressing concern with
the reporting and pre-population of
fields and the ability to list multiple
subawards on a single Federal award
(FAIN) which is common on awards
supporting clinical trials. The ability to
create and submit a single report rather
than submitting each subaward
separately will be an important
functionality for some grantees. The
respondent also states that the batch-file
reporting is particularly important if

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 18 / Thursday, January 27, 2011 / Notices

only one FSRS report per FAIN can be
submitted during a single 30-day
reporting period.
Response: Both requested capabilities
already exist in FSRS: A FFATA
subaward report can contain multiple
subawards against a single Federal
award (as reported by Federal Award
Identifier Number or FAIN). In fact, the
FFATA subaward report should contain
all subaward activity for that report
month for that particular FAIN. There
are also three methods for submitting
multiple FFATA subaward reports: A
batch upload template using Microsoft
Excel, an XML report submission
template and an XML web service.
Technical documentation can be found
on all three multiple report submission
methods and on FSRS functionality on
the Resources page from within the
FSRS Web site or by direct link to
https://www.fsrs.gov/resources.
Batch-File Submission. One
respondent stated that the capability of
uploading data from a batch file into
FSRS does not take advantage of the
agency and CCR data available as it does
when entering data through the Web
site. The batch file would need to
include not only all of the local data,
but all of the CCR and agency data
would need to be entered locally as well
in order to complete the report.
Therefore, there is no pre-population
advantage. The respondent urged that
the batch-file process be modified to
take advantage of the CCR and agency
systems and eliminate the need to rekey data, such that the data sets needed
to complete the report would be the
same whether filed via batch or Web site
data entry.
Response: There are three methods for
submitting multiple FFATA subaward
reports: A batch upload template using
Microsoft Excel, an XML report
submission template and an XML web
service. These methods do take
advantage of the system interfaces with
CCR and the agencies’ reported award
data. Technical documentation can be
found on all three multiple report
submission methods and on FSRS
functionality on the Resources page
from within the FSRS Web site or by
direct link to https://www.fsrs.gov/
resources.
Foreign Entities as Subrecipients. Two
comments were received stating that the
value of the DUNS approach is less clear
when working with foreign entities as
subrecipients. These entities may or
may not have a DUNS number and may
or may not have ready access to apply
for a DUNS number. One respondent
stated that because of poor
infrastructure, the telecommunication
required to process a DUNS registration

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would prove very problematic, and that
there is a vast difference between
feasible reporting requirements for a
municipality in the U.S. and for a small
community of self-help organizations
operating in a remote region of Africa.
The respondent expressed concern
regarding requiring local partner
organizations to obtain a DUNS number
and that posting of their data on a
public website may pose unacceptable
security risks for them. One respondent
noted that the Final Guidance
concerning Financial Assistance Use of
Universal Identifier and Central
Contractor Registration (2 CFR subtitle
A, chapter 1, and part 25) requires
subrecipients to obtain a DUNS number
but an agency can exempt entities from
the requirement in certain
circumstances [§ 25.110(d)] with the
caution that such exemptions should be
rare. The respondent believes that
agencies may need to exercise this
authority more frequently than
anticipated by OMB in the case of
foreign subrecipients. The respondent
urged OMB to consider giving agencies
the option to apply the exemption from
obtaining a DUNS number for foreign
recipients at any value (values greater
than $25,000), and that agencies should
be directed to describe how an
exemption under any of the conditions
is obtained by the prime recipient.
Response: Based on OMB guidance,
FSRS requires a valid DUNS number be
used to (1) register as a prime grant
awardee to report subaward activity in
FSRS; and (2) report a subawardee.
Without a valid DUNS number,
subaward reporting cannot occur.
Currently, 2 CFR Subtitle A, Chapter A
Part 25 does allow for agency
exemptions in certain circumstances. In
those instances, agencies would not be
able to report subaward activity in
FSRS. GSA and OMB recognize the
safety and security concerns regarding
some types of foreign recipients and
will provide additional guidance
regarding the reporting of sensitive
information. Any revisions to the
requirements based on this guidance
will be incorporated in a subsequent
Paperwork Reduction Act submission
for this information collection.
Foreign Assistance Awards—Data
Elements. Four respondents suggested
that the data collection fields and forms
be reviewed to take into consideration
foreign assistance awards. For example,
as these programs are not conducted
within U.S. congressional districts, the
‘‘principal place of performance’’ data
field on the Prime Award Data Elements
form could be modified to include a
checkbox to make ‘‘overseas’’ if the
purpose of the award is foreign

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assistance and the principal place of
performance is not within the U.S. One
respondent commented that the
granularity of the notices is not a
helpful or useful snapshot of how the
U.S. Government is spending taxpayer
dollars in development programs, and
that additional elements would need to
be added to the database in order to (1)
maintain the accuracy of the
information entered; (2) reduce
misconceptions; and (3) ensure the
safety of staff in politically sensitive
countries.
Response: With a direct feed from
USAspending.gov, FSRS displays the
prime award data as reported by the
awarding Federal agency. For subaward
information, FSRS is able to accept
foreign recipient locations and/or
project place of performance. When
completing an editable location field,
the prime awardee selects ‘‘Non-US’’
from the State drop-down menu. When
Non-US is selected for State, then a nonUnited States country must be selected
and the zip code field and the
congressional district become optional.
With some limited exceptions, the
reporting requirements apply to all
prime awardees of Federal grants,
including foreign prime recipients and
foreign subawardees. Please refer to the
data definitions found on the Resources
page from within the FSRS Web site or
by direct link to https://www.fsrs.gov/
resources for more information on the
data elements themselves. Contact your
awarding agency with any specific
questions regarding applicability.
Purpose of the Information Collection
Request. One respondent asked what
this ICR really does and why was it an
emergency new information collection
requirement.
Response: This information collection
requires information necessary for
prime awardee registration into the
FFATA Subaward Reporting System
(FSRS) and the review of its entityrelated information. Emergency review
and clearance of this new information
collection requirement is essential to the
implementation of the Federal Funding
Accountability and Transparency Act
(‘‘FFATA’’ or ‘‘Transparency Act’’).
Without OMB approval, prime grant
awardees would not have been able to
report subaward and executive
compensation data pursuant to the
Transparency Act’s transparency
requirements for new grant awards as of
October 1, 2010. Information on grants
subaward and executive compensation
will be collected on the FSRS Web site,
http://www.fsrs.gov. The FSRS Web site
is part of the Integrated Acquisition
Environment and is managed at GSA.
This information collection requests

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 18 / Thursday, January 27, 2011 / Notices
approval of the information needed to
properly register an entity in FSRS to
facilitate the statutorily required
reporting of Transparency Act
information (DUNS number, name of
entity, address, parent DUNS number,
Federal Award Identification Number
(FAIN), CFDA number and the Federal
awarding agency of the grant).
C. Annual Reporting Burden
Respondents: 49,308.
Responses per Respondent: 1.
Hours per Response: .5 hr.
Total Burden Hours: 24,645.
Obtaining Copies of Proposals:
Requesters may obtain a copy of the
information collection documents from
the General Services Administration,
Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1275
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20417,
telephone (202) 501–4755. Please cite
OMB Control No. 3090–0291, FSRS
Registration and Prime Awardee EntityRelated Information Reporting
Requirements, in all correspondence.
Dated: January 21, 2011.
Casey Coleman,
Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011–1750 Filed 1–26–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820–WY–P

GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
[OMB Control No. 3090–0290;Docket No.
2010–0002; Sequence 20]

Submission for OMB Review; OMB
Control No. 3090–0290; Central
Contractor Registration Requirements
for Prime Grant Recipients
Office of Technology Strategy/
Office of Governmentwide Policy,
General Services Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Notice of request for public
comments regarding a new OMB
information clearance.
AGENCY:

Under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. chapter 35), the Regulatory
Secretariat will be submitting to the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) a request to review and approve
an emergency new information
collection requirement regarding Central
Contractor Registration Requirements
for Prime Grant Recipients.
Public comments are particularly
invited on: Whether this collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of functions of the Central
Contractor Registration Requirements
for Prime Grant Recipients, whether it
will have practical utility; whether our
estimate of the public burden of this

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collection of information is accurate,
and based on valid assumptions and
methodology; ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and ways in
which we can minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond, through the use of
appropriate technological collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology.
DATES: Submit comments on or before
February 28, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments
identified by Information Collection
3090–0290, Central Contractor
Registration Requirements for Prime
Grant Recipients by any of the following
methods:
• Regulations.gov: http://
www.regulations.gov. Submit comments
via the Federal eRulemaking portal by
inputting ‘‘Information Collection 3090–
0290, Central Contractor Registration
Requirements for Prime Grant
Recipients’’ under the heading ‘‘Enter
Keyword or ID’’ and selecting ‘‘Search’’.
Select the link ‘‘Submit a Comment’’ that
corresponds with ‘‘Information
Collection 3090–0290, Central
Contractor Registration Requirements
for Prime Grant Recipients’’. Follow the
instructions provided at the ‘‘Submit a
Comment’’ screen. Please include your
name, company name (if any), and
‘‘Information Collection 3090–0290,
Central Contractor Registration
Requirements for Prime Grant
Recipients’’ on your attached document.
• Fax: 202–501–4067.
• Mail: General Services
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat
(MVCB), 1275 First Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20417. ATTN: Hada
Flowers/IC 3090–0290.
Instructions: Please submit comments
only and cite Information Collection
3090–0290, Central Contractor
Registration Requirements for Prime
Grant Recipients, in all correspondence
related to this collection. All comments
received will be posted without change
to http://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal and/or business
confidential information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Janice Miller, Program Analyst, Office of
Technology Strategy/Office of
Governmentwide Policy, at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Purpose
This information collection requires
information necessary for prime
awardee registration into the FFATA
Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) and
review of its entity-related information.

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This will allow for prime awardee
reporting of subaward and executive
compensation data pursuant to the
Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act (FFATA, or
Transparency Act). This information
collection requires that all prime grant
awardees, subject to reporting under the
Transparency Act register and maintain
their registration in CCR.
B. Discussion of Public Comments
Rename the Central Contractor
Registration to more accurately reflect
its new purpose. Four comments were
received expressing concern regarding
the name of the Central Contractor
Registration. Two respondents
suggested that if it is necessary to have
prime grantees maintain registration in
a centralized database of all Federal
awardees, that the registry be renamed
to reinforce the statutory distinction
between acquisition and assistance
awards. Since nongovernmental
organizations accept only assistance
awards (cooperative agreements) from
the U.S. Government, they are
recognized as an independent, non-state
actor that provides technical assistance
through a people-to-people approach.
As they are not agents of the U.S.
Government, they feel that requiring
grantees to register in a ‘‘contractor’’
registry would, by virtue of association,
negate the distinction between
assistance and acquisition, and could
result in confusion about their role in
implementing programs overseas. Two
respondents believe that OMB should
recognize that use of the term
‘‘contractor’’ in a requirement that is
now being applied to recipients of
grants and cooperative agreements is
likely to have a problematic impact
because of the documented tendency on
the part of some Federal agencies to
improperly differentiate between
acquisition and assistance instruments,
and that this has often been the case in
Federal agencies that fund projects that
are performed overseas. These
respondents suggest that OMB consider
changing the nomenclature, at some
future date, to the Central Contractor
and Grantee Registry to reinforce the
statutory distinction derived from the
Federal Grant and Cooperative
Agreement Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95–224).
Response: GSA acknowledges that the
Central Contractor Registration (CCR) is
now used by and supports both the
contracts and grants communities. The
registration services it provides are no
longer limited to contractors alone. GSA
also acknowledges the name CCR is not
inclusive of the full range of registration
services provided. Instead of renaming
the system, however, GSA is

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