Authorizing legislation

PUBLIC LAW 106–107—NOV. 20, 1999

FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1999

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113 STAT. 1486

PUBLIC LAW 106–107—NOV. 20, 1999

Public Law 106–107
106th Congress
An Act
Nov. 20, 1999
[S. 468]

Federal Financial
Assistance
Management
Improvement Act
of 1999.
31 USC 6101
note.
31 USC 6101
note.

To improve the effectiveness and performance of Federal financial assistance programs, simplify Federal financial assistance application and reporting requirements, and improve the delivery of services to the public.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Financial Assistance
Management Improvement Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that—
(1) there are over 600 different Federal financial assistance
programs to implement domestic policy;
(2) while the assistance described in paragraph (1) has
been directed at critical problems, some Federal administrative
requirements may be duplicative, burdensome or conflicting,
thus impeding cost-effective delivery of services at the local
level;
(3) the Nation’s State, local, and tribal governments and
private, nonprofit organizations are dealing with increasingly
complex problems which require the delivery and coordination
of many kinds of services; and
(4) streamlining and simplification of Federal financial
assistance administrative procedures and reporting requirements will improve the delivery of services to the public.

31 USC 6101
note.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

31 USC 6101
note.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

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The purposes of this Act are to—
(1) improve the effectiveness and performance of Federal
financial assistance programs;
(2) simplify Federal financial assistance application and
reporting requirements;
(3) improve the delivery of services to the public; and
(4) facilitate greater coordination among those responsible
for delivering such services.
In this Act:
(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget.
(2) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal agency’’ means
any agency as defined under section 551(1) of title 5, United
States Code.

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PUBLIC LAW 106–107—NOV. 20, 1999

113 STAT. 1487

(3) FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘Federal
financial assistance’’ has the same meaning as defined in section 7501(a)(5) of title 31, United States Code, under which
Federal financial assistance is provided, directly or indirectly,
to a non-Federal entity.
(4) LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘local government’’
means a political subdivision of a State that is a unit of general
local government (as defined under section 7501(a)(11) of title
31, United States Code).
(5) NON-FEDERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘non-Federal entity’’
means a State, local government, or nonprofit organization.
(6) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘nonprofit
organization’’ means any corporation, trust, association,
cooperative, or other organization that—
(A) is operated primarily for scientific, educational,
service, charitable, or similar purposes in the public
interest;
(B) is not organized primarily for profit; and
(C) uses net proceeds to maintain, improve, or expand
the operations of the organization.
(7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa,
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and any instrumentality
thereof, any multi-State, regional, or interstate entity which
has governmental functions, and any Indian Tribal Government.
(8) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘tribal government’’
means an Indian tribe, as that term is defined in section
7501(a)(9) of title 31, United States Code.
(9) UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE RULE.—The term ‘‘uniform
administrative rule’’ means a Governmentwide uniform rule
for any generally applicable requirement established to achieve
national policy objectives that applies to multiple Federal financial assistance programs across Federal agencies.
SEC. 5. DUTIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under subsection (b), not
later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act,
each Federal agency shall develop and implement a plan that—
(1) streamlines and simplifies the application, administrative, and reporting procedures for Federal financial assistance
programs administered by the agency;
(2) demonstrates active participation in the interagency
process under section 6(a)(2);
(3) demonstrates appropriate agency use, or plans for use,
of the common application and reporting system developed
under section 6(a)(1);
(4) designates a lead agency official for carrying out the
responsibilities of the agency under this Act;
(5) allows applicants to electronically apply for, and report
on the use of, funds from the Federal financial assistance
program administered by the agency;
(6) ensures recipients of Federal financial assistance provide timely, complete, and high quality information in response
to Federal reporting requirements; and

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31 USC 6101
note.
Deadline.

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113 STAT. 1488

Federal Register,
publication.

31 USC 6101
note.

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PUBLIC LAW 106–107—NOV. 20, 1999

(7) in cooperation with recipients of Federal financial assistance, establishes specific annual goals and objectives to further
the purposes of this Act and measure annual performance
in achieving those goals and objectives, which may be done
as part of the agency’s annual planning responsibilities under
the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (Public
Law 103–62; 107 Stat. 285).
(b) EXTENSION.—If a Federal agency is unable to comply with
subsection (a), the Director may extend for up to 12 months the
period for the agency to develop and implement a plan in accordance
with subsection (a).
(c) COMMENT AND CONSULTATION ON AGENCY PLANS.—
(1) COMMENT.—Each agency shall publish the plan developed under subsection (a) in the Federal Register and shall
receive public comment of the plan through the Federal Register
and other means (including electronic means). To the maximum
extent practicable, each Federal agency shall hold public forums
on the plan.
(2) CONSULTATION.—The lead official designated under subsection (a)(4) shall consult with representatives of non-Federal
entities during development and implementation of the plan.
Consultation with representatives of State, local, and tribal
governments shall be in accordance with section 204 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1534).
(d) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Each Federal agency shall submit
the plan developed under subsection (a) to the Director and Congress and report annually thereafter on the implementation of
the plan and performance of the agency in meeting the goals and
objectives specified under subsection (a)(7). Such report may be
included as part of any of the general management reports required
under law.
SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in consultation with agency
heads and representatives of non-Federal entities, shall direct,
coordinate, and assist Federal agencies in establishing—
(1) a common application and reporting system, including—
(A) a common application or set of common applications, wherein a non-Federal entity can apply for Federal
financial assistance from multiple Federal financial assistance programs that serve similar purposes and are
administered by different Federal agencies;
(B) a common system, including electronic processes,
wherein a non-Federal entity can apply for, manage, and
report on the use of funding from multiple Federal financial
assistance programs that serve similar purposes and are
administered by different Federal agencies; and
(C) uniform administrative rules for Federal financial
assistance programs across different Federal agencies; and
(2) an interagency process for addressing—
(A) ways to streamline and simplify Federal financial
assistance administrative procedures and reporting requirements for non-Federal entities;
(B) improved interagency and intergovernmental
coordination of information collection and sharing of data
pertaining to Federal financial assistance programs,

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PUBLIC LAW 106–107—NOV. 20, 1999

113 STAT. 1489

including appropriate information sharing consistent with
section 552a of title 5, United States Code; and
(C) improvements in the timeliness, completeness, and
quality of information received by Federal agencies from
recipients of Federal financial assistance.
(b) LEAD AGENCY AND WORKING GROUPS.—The Director may
designate a lead agency to assist the Director in carrying out
the responsibilities under this section. The Director may use interagency working groups to assist in carrying out such responsibilities.
(c) REVIEW OF PLANS AND REPORTS.—Upon the request of the
Director, agencies shall submit to the Director, for the Director’s
review, information and other reporting regarding agency
implementation of this Act.
(d) EXEMPTIONS.—The Director may exempt any Federal agency
or Federal financial assistance program from the requirements of
this Act if the Director determines that the Federal agency does
not have a significant number of Federal financial assistance programs. The Director shall maintain a list of exempted agencies
which shall be available to the public through the Office of Management and Budget’s Internet site.
(e) REPORT ON RECOMMENDED CHANGES IN LAW.—Not later
than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Director shall submit to Congress a report containing recommendations for changes in law to improve the effectiveness, performance,
and coordination of Federal financial assistance programs.
(f) DEADLINE.—All actions required under this section shall
be carried out not later than 18 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 7. EVALUATION.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The General Accounting Office shall evaluate
the effectiveness of this Act. Not later than 6 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the evaluation shall be submitted
to the lead agency, the Director, and Congress. The evaluation
shall be performed with input from State, local, and tribal governments, and nonprofit organizations.
(b) CONTENTS.—The evaluation under subsection (a) shall—
(1) assess the effectiveness of this Act in meeting the purposes of this Act and make specific recommendations to further
the implementation of this Act;
(2) evaluate actual performance of each agency in achieving
the goals and objectives stated in agency plans; and
(3) assess the level of coordination among the Director,
Federal agencies, State, local, and tribal governments, and
nonprofit organizations in implementing this Act.
SEC. 8. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the Director
or any Federal agency from gathering, or to exempt any recipient
of Federal financial assistance from providing, information that
is required for review of the financial integrity or quality of services
of an activity assisted by a Federal financial assistance program.
SEC. 9. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

There shall be no judicial review of compliance or noncompliance with any of the provisions of this Act. No provision of this

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Records.

Deadline.

31 USC 6101
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Deadline.

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113 STAT. 1490

PUBLIC LAW 106–107—NOV. 20, 1999

Act shall be construed to create any right or benefit, substantive
or procedural, enforceable by any administrative or judicial action.
31 USC 6101
note.

SEC. 10. STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS.

31 USC 6101
note.

SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE AND SUNSET.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed as a means to deviate
from the statutory requirements relating to applicable Federal
financial assistance programs.
This Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of
this Act and shall cease to be effective 8 years after such date
of enactment.
Approved November 20, 1999.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 468 (H.R. 409):
SENATE REPORTS: No. 106–103 (Comm. on Governmental Affairs).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 145 (1999):
July 15, considered and passed Senate.
Nov. 2, considered and passed House, amended.
Nov. 4, Senate concurred in House amendment.
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 35 (1999):
Nov. 20, Presidential statement.

Æ

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