SGA Model Transparency Language

Generic Solicitation for Grant Applications

Control Number 1225-0086

Model Transparency Language

DOL is committed to conducting a transparent grant award process and publicizing information about program outcomes.  Posting grant applications on public websites is a means of promoting and sharing innovative ideas. For this grant competition, we will publish the Executive Summary as required by this solicitation¹ for all applications on the Department’s website or similar location. Additionally, we will publish a version of the Technical Proposal required by this solicitation, for all those applications that are awarded grants, on the Department’s website or a similar location. No other parts of or attachments to the application will be published. The Technical Proposals and Executive Summaries will not be published until after the grants are awarded. In addition, information about grant progress and results may also be made publicly available.

DOL recognizes that grant applications sometimes contain information that an applicant may consider proprietary or business confidential information, or may contain personally identifiable information. Information is considered proprietary or confidential commercial/business information when it is not usually disclosed outside your organization and when its disclosure is likely to cause you substantial competitive harm. Personally identifiable information is information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual‘s identity, such as name, social security number, date and place of birth, mother‘s maiden name, or biometric records, or other information that is linked or linkable to an individual, such as medical, educational, financial, and employment information.²

Executive Summaries will be published in the form originally submitted, without any redactions. However, in order to ensure that confidential information is properly protected from disclosure when DOL posts the winning Technical Proposals, applicants whose technical proposals will be posted will be asked to submit a second redacted version of their Technical Proposal, with proprietary, confidential commercial/business, and personally identifiable information redacted. All non-public information about the applicant’s staff should be removed as well. The Department will contact the applicants whose technical proposals will be published by letter or email, and provide further directions about how and when to submit the redacted version of the Technical Proposal. Submission of a redacted version of the Technical Proposal will constitute permission by the applicant for DOL to post that redacted version. If an applicant fails to provide a redacted version of the Technical Proposal, DOL will publish the original Technical Proposal in full, after redacting personally identifiable information. (Note that the original, unredacted version of the Technical Proposal will remain part of the complete application package, including an applicant’s proprietary and confidential information and any personally identifiable information.)

Applicants are encouraged to maximize the grant application information that will be publicly disclosed, and to exercise restraint and redact only information that truly is proprietary, confidential commercial/business information, or capable of identifying a person. The redaction of entire pages or sections of the Technical Proposal is not appropriate, and will not be allowed, unless the entire portion merits such protection. Should a dispute arise about whether redactions are appropriate, DOL will follow the procedures outlined in the Department’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations (29 CFR part 70).

Redacted information in grant applications will be protected by DOL from public disclosure in accordance with federal law, including the Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. § 1905), FOIA, and the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 552a). If DOL receives a FOIA request for your application, the procedures in DOL’s FOIA regulations for responding to requests for commercial/business information submitted to the government will be followed, as well as all FOIA exemptions and procedures. 29 CFR § 70.26. Consequently, it is possible that application of FOIA rules may result in release of information in response to a FOIA request that an applicant redacted in its “redacted copy.”

Paperwork Reduction Act.

OMB Information Collection No. 1225-0086. Expires November 30, 2012.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no person is required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number.  Total public reporting burden for the information collection provisions of this grant solicitation is estimated to average XX hours per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.  Send comments regarding the burden estimated or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Labor, to the attention of Departmental Clearance Officer, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room N-1310, Washington, D.C. 20210.  Comments may also be emailed to [email protected]. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN THE COMPLETED APPLICATION TO THIS ADDRESS. SEND IT TO THE SPONSORING AGENCY AS SPECIFIED IN THIS SOLICITATION.

1 Note to OMB reviewer - A DOL grant solicitation may use the term ‘executive summary’ or ‘abstract’ to describe a brief summary that demonstrates an applicant’s capability to implement a grant project. A DOL solicitation will reference the particular section that requires an executive summary or an abstract in the transparency section; however, since this is model language a specific section citation is not provided as this will vary with each solicitation.

2 Memorandums 07-16 and 06-19. GAO Report 08-536, Privacy: Alternatives Exist for Enhancing Protection of Personally Identifiable Information, May 2008, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08536.pdf.