Final 2014 Grants Supporting Statement

FINAL SUPPORTING STATEMENT

FOR

GRANT AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROVISIONS

(3150-0107)

EXTENSION

Description of Information Collection

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) provides financial assistance through issuance of grants and cooperative agreements. This funding supports research, as well as symposia and conferences, training and associated curricula, disciplines pertaining to nuclear safety, security, or environmental protection and other areas that the Commission determines to be critical to the NRC’s mission. NRC also provides funding to support a broad range of innovative programs and activities to strengthen the academic excellence and infrastructure capacity of minority serving institutions by educating and training their students and faculty. NRC provides financial assistance to accredited U.S. institutions of higher education to support education in nuclear science, engineering, health physics, and nuclear-related trades for students and faculty members. This supports the development of a workforce capable of the design, construction, operation, and regulation of nuclear facilities and the safe handling of nuclear materials.

The Acquisition Management Division (AMD) is responsible for awarding grants and cooperative agreements for the Agency. AMD collects information from recipients of grants and cooperative agreements (referred hereafter as “recipients”) in order to administer these programs.

1. JUSTIFICATION

1. Need for and Practical Utility of the Collection of Information

NRC collects this information to ensure that the Government’s rights are protected, the agency adheres to public laws, the work proceeds on schedule, and that disputes, if any, are settled between the Government and the recipients.

2. Agency Use of Information

NRC collects this information from recipients in accordance with the Terms and Conditions/General Provisions for grants and cooperative agreements awarded to institutions of higher education and other nonprofit institutions as part of the grant/cooperative agreement provisions in NRC's awards. The information collected is used by the NRC for administration of the grant and cooperative agreement programs. The NRC Terms and Conditions referencing collection of information are described below:

Dispute Review Procedure

A recipient who wants a committee review of a notice of an adverse action taken by the Commission must submit a request for review to an NRC Grants Officer (GO) no later than 30 days after the postmarked date of such notice. The NRC committee reviews the facts in the request and, where appropriate, provides a forum for the recipients and program personnel to discuss the issues. The NRC committee uses the information submitted and prepares a recommendation to the Director, Office of Administration, who decides the particular matter. There is no other method to secure this information from a recipient.

Reporting Program Technical Performance

This provision is to apprise the NRC of the recipient’s progress under the grant or cooperative agreement. Recipients are required to submit technical performance reports to document their performance and to indicate any problems, if applicable. The recipients must submit progress reports describing in detail the activities that have occurred during the reporting period that correspond with the goals and objectives identified in the narrative, as well as, providing specific, performance metric information for educational related grants. Further, this provision allows the Commission to review the final draft of a journal article before publication, if applicable. Recipients are required to submit these reports to the NRC on a semi-annual basis for the periods ending March 31 and September 30, or any portion thereof, unless otherwise specified in a special award condition. Reports are due no later than 30 days following the end of each reporting period. The recipients submit the reports electronically through email and FedConnect.net. There is no other method to secure this information from recipients

Patent Rights (Small Business Firms or Non-Profit Organizations, July, 1981)

This provision is required to protect against public disclosure of information related to inventions or discoveries that would adversely affect the patent interests of the NRC or the recipients. Recipients must submit information on any invention or discovery, which may be patentable for the Government to determine whether the public interest and the equities of the recipients are served in deciding whether to file a patent application. The Government must also obtain information concerning title and rights that may result under a patent application, when determining the disposition of an invention or discovery. NRC participates in the trans-government Interagency Edison system (http://www.iedison.gov) and expects NRC funding Grantees to use this system to comply with Bayh-Dole and related intellectual property reporting requirements. The system allows for Grantees to submit reports electronically via the Internet. Recipients are required to send one copy of the information to the NRC GO who reviews the material to make the above determinations in consultation with the NRC attorney. There are no other methods to secure this information from recipients.

Notice and Assistance Regarding Patent and Copyright Infringement

This provision also requires the recipients to provide the Commission with all evidence and information known should any claim or suit arise against the Government of any alleged patent or copyright infringement under grant/cooperative agreement performance. This requirement is important since it protects the rights and interests of the Government. The recipients shall provide this evidence and information in one copy to the NRC GO, who in consultation with NRC PC, reviews the material to decide the best course of action to protect the Government's interests. There is no other method to secure this information from recipients.

Reporting of Royalties

The requirements of this provision make clear that the Government may contest the enforceability, validity, and/or title of any patent under which a royalty or payment is made. The provision is also necessary in that it allows the Commission, thorough review of the information supplied by the recipients, to ascertain the patents or basis on which royalties are to be paid. The recipients agree to report in writing (one copy) to the NRC Patent Counsel (NRC PC) stipulating the amount of royalties or other payments made in connection with performance under the grant or cooperative agreement. There is no other method to secure this information from recipients.

Changes in Principal Investigator or Technical Objectives

This provision requires recipients to obtain approval from the NRC GO to make changes to: (1) the stated objective of the grant/cooperative agreement, (2) the level of effort of the Principal Investigator, or (3) the phenomenon under study. The recipients must submit one copy of the request to the NRC GO, who in consultation with the NRC Contracting Officer Representative (NRC COR), reviews the request before approving or disapproving the proposed change. There is no other method of obtaining the requested information other than following the instructions in this provision.

Procurement Standards

This provision sets rules for the recipients to follow if a contract(s) is awarded under the grant or cooperative agreement. The Government seeks to ensure that these contracts are awarded competitively, where possible and that negotiated prices are reasonable. This provision stipulates circumstances when the recipients must submit requests (one copy) to the NRC GO for approval. The NRC GO reviews each request and decides which course of action is in the Government's best interest. There is no other method to secure this information from recipients.

Suspension or Termination for Cause

This provision protects the Government’s interests by stating that it has the unilateral right to terminate or suspend the grant/cooperative agreement when the recipients fail to comply with the terms and conditions of the grant/cooperative agreement. If the grant/cooperative agreement is terminated, the recipients are required to conduct an accounting of funds expended to ascertain the amount of funds to deobligate or return from the grant/cooperative agreement to the Government. The NRC GO advises the recipients by letter of the nature of the problem. The recipients must respond to the NRC GO (one copy) within 30 days of the Government letter identifying plans to correct the deficiencies in performance. The recipients shall also send one copy to the Principal Investigator (PI) and one copy to the NRC PO. The NRC GO, in consultation with the NRC PO, must decide the course of action to follow (suspend, terminate or continue grant/cooperative agreement performance). No other method exists outside the aegis of this provision to collect the needed information.

Termination for Convenience

This provision requires the recipients to document a request to terminate the grant/cooperative agreement and to submit the request and one copy to the NRC GO and one copy to the NRC PO and PI. The Commission then has a written record to respond to and challenge if it is in its best interest. The NRC GO, in consultation with the NRC PO and PI, will come to an understanding with the recipients as to whether to terminate the grant/cooperative agreement or not. No other method exists to secure this needed information.

Travel

This provision requires explicit approval by the NRC GO prior to foreign travel, regardless of its inclusion in the approved award budget. No other method exists to secure this needed information.

The reporting/recordkeeping requirements imposed by the above NRC grant provisions annually affect from 1 to 218 recipients, depending upon the particular provision. Table 1 shows the number of respondents for each provision. The information collection requirements do not involve surveys. Recipients are required to send reports and information to the NRC in accordance with award requirements. All information is collected under the above-cited provisions. As indicated previously, the information is submitted to the NRC GO, with copies to the NRC PO and, in some instances, to legal counsel. In all cases, it is the responsibility of the NRC GO to review the information and decide on the best course of action to follow.

3. Reduction of Burden through Information Technology

There are no legal obstacles to reducing the burden associated with this information collection. The NRC encourages respondents to use information technology when it would be beneficial to them. NRC issued a regulation on October 10, 2003 (68 FR 58791), consistent with the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, which allows its licensees, vendors, applicants, and members of the public the option to make submissions electronically via CDROM, e-mail, special Web-based interface, or other means. It is estimated that approximately 99 percent of the potential responses are filed electronically.

4. Effort to Identify Duplication and to Use Similar Information

No sources of similar information are available. There is no duplication of requirements. NRC has in place an ongoing program to examine all information collections with the goal of eliminating all duplication and/or unnecessary information collections. These provisions are not used in any other legal instrument for agency use other than for grants and cooperative agreements.

5. Effort to Reduce Small Business Burden

The agency grant/cooperative agreement program does not affect small businesses.

6. Consequences to Federal Program or Policy Activities if the Collection is Not Conducted or is Conducted Less Frequently

If the requested information is not collected or is collected less frequently, the agency could not adequately track recipients’ progress or ascertain if the work being performed is within the general scope of the grant or cooperative agreement. Less frequent technical progress reports removes an effective mechanism needed to monitor grant/cooperative agreement performance which can enable appropriate remedial action to protect the interests of the Government.

Most other provisions (Dispute Review Procedure, Inventions (including Patent and Copyright) Reporting, Reporting of Royalties, Changes in Principal Investigator or Technical Objectives, Suspension or Termination and Enforcement) require information only when applicable under specific, limited circumstances defined in the provision. The information is necessary to protect the rights of the parties under the grant or cooperative agreement in those situations.

7. Circumstances Which Justify Variation From OMB Guidelines

This information collection does not vary from OMB Guidelines.

8. Consultation Outside the NRC

Opportunity for public comment on the information collection requirements for this clearance package was published in the Federal Register on April 29, 2014 (79 FR 24020). No comments were received.

9. Payment or Gifts to Respondents

None.

10. Confidentiality of the Information

Confidential and proprietary information is protected in accordance with NRC regulations under 10 CFR 9.17(a) and 10 CFR 2.390(b).

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

Information related to litigation, claims, patent, or copyright infringement, inventions, grant/cooperative agreement disputes, or termination would be sensitive from a legal perspective. Certain cost information, (e.g., salaries and indirect cost rates) would be sensitive from a corporate perspective. All sensitive information is properly filed and safeguarded against improper disclosure. This is the NRC GO's responsibility. No sensitive personal information is required or requested.

12. Estimated Burden and Burden Hour Cost

Table 1 represents the reporting burden and Table 2 represents the recordkeeping burden estimates for each provision. Such burden estimates were derived from experience as to the approximate number of recipients affected by each particular provision and the approximate number of hours that recipients would have to expend to comply with the requirements of the provisions. Reporting burden is estimated to be 4,742 hours, for a cost of $1,289,824 (4,742 x $272/hr). Recordkeeping burden is estimated to be 339 hours, for a cost of $92,208 (339 x $272 hr). The total burden for this collection is estimated to be 5,081 hours (4,742 reporting hours plus 339 recordkeeping hours) at a cost of $1,382,032 (5,081 hours X $272/hr). See attached Tables 1 and 2.

13. Estimate of Other Additional Costs

The NRC has determined that the quantity of records to be maintained is roughly proportional to the recordkeeping burden and, therefore, can be used to calculate approximate records storage costs. Based on the number of pages maintained for a typical clearance, the records storage cost has been determined to be equal to 0.0004 times the recordkeeping burden cost. Because the recordkeeping burden is estimated to be 339 hours, the storage cost for this clearance is $37 (339 hours x 0.0004 x $272/hour).

14. Estimated Annualized Cost to Federal Government

The cost to the NRC attributable to the provisions discussed in this supporting statement is $264,928 (974 hours x $272/hr). Table 3 presents such cost by provision. The cost to the Government for each provision was derived from experience as to the approximate number of hours the grant specialist expends in ensuring that recipients comply with a particular provision. The hours were then multiplied by $272/hour (standard fee recoverable rate for materials licensees) to arrive at the approximate cost to the Government.

15. Reason for Change in Burden or Cost

The overall burden (reporting and recordkeeping) has decreased by 2,996 hours, from 8,077 hours to 5,081 hours. This change is due to the following:

1. The total number of grant/cooperative agreement respondents decreased from 350 respondents to 218 respondents due to a decrease in the number of active financial assistance awards. As a result, the number of respondents (recipients) required to submit Program Technical Performance reports have decreased from 350 to 218.

2. Reporting Program Technical Performance is required biannually, resulting in a decrease in the total number of responses from 700 (350 respondents reporting 2 times per year) to 436 (218 respondents reporting 2 times per year).

As a result of the above changes, the total number of burden hours for reporting decreased by a total of 2,798 hours. The specific changes (decreases in burden hours) are as follows:

The burden for Reporting Program Technical Performance decreased from 7,420 hours (350 respondents x 2 annual responses x 10.6 burden hours) to 4,622 hours (218 respondents x 2 annual responses x 10.6 burden hours), a decrease of 2,798 hours.

In addition, the total number of recordkeeping hours decreased from 537 hours to 339 hours, a decrease of 198 hours.

There has been an increase in burden cost due to the increase in the NRC’s standard fee recoverable rate for materials licensees from $259 per hour to $272 per hour, which is used to calculate burden cost.

Finally, the burdens associated with the requirements that are submitted on the Standard Forms (below) are not included in this collection. The burden for these requirements is covered under other OMB clearances.

Standard Form Number	Title	OMB Clearance Number	Burden Per Form
SF 424	Application for Federal Financial Assistance	4040-0004	60 minutes
SF 424A	Budget Information	4040-0006	180 minutes
SF 424B	Assurances	4040-0007	15 minutes
SF LLL	Disclosure of Lobbying Activities	0348-0046	10 minutes
TOTAL			265 minutes (4.4 hours)

16. Publication for Statistical use

Not applicable.

17. Reason for Not Displaying the Expiration Date

Not applicable.

18. Exceptions to the Certification Statement

Not applicable.

2. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

Statistical methods are not used in this collection of information.

TABLE 1

ESTIMATED ANNUAL REPORTING BURDEN TABLE

GRANT/COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROVISIONS

Provision	No. of Respondents1	Responses per Respondent	Total Number of Responses	Burden Hours per Response	Total Annual Burden Hours	Total Annual Cost @$272/HR
Dispute Review Procedure	0	0	0	15	0	0
Reporting Program Tech. Performance	2182	2	436	10.6	4,622	$1,257,184
Patent Rights	0	0	0	10	0	0
Reporting of Royalties	0	0	0	5	0	0
Changes in Principal Investigator or Technical Objectives	103	1	10	10	100	$27,200
Notice and Assistance Regarding Patent and Copyright Infringement	0	0	0	10	0	0
Procurement Standards	0	0	0	3	0	0
Suspension or Termination for Cause	0	0	0	20	0	0
Termination for Convenience	0	0	0	20	0	0
Travel (Foreign)	43	1	4	5	20	$5,440
TOTAL	218		450		4,742	$1,289,824

TABLE 2

ESTIMATED ANNUAL RECORDKEEPING BURDEN TABLE

GRANT/COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROVISIONS

Section	No. of Recordkeepers	Burden Hours per Recordkeeper	Total Annual Burden Hours	Total Annual Cost @$272/HR
Dispute Review Procedure	0	0	0	0
Reporting Program Tech. Performance	218	1.5	327	$88,944
Patent Rights	0	1	0	0
Reporting of Royalties **
Changes in Principal Investigator or Technical Objectives	10	1	10	$2,720
Notice and Assistance Regarding Patent and Copyright Infringement	0	1	0	0
Procurement Standards	0	0.3	0	0
Suspension or Termination for Cause	0	2	0	0
Termination for Convenience	0	2	0	0
Travel (Foreign)	4	0.5	2	$544
TOTAL	218		339	$92,208

** Grantees maintain royalty and financial records as a part of the normal course of doing business.

TOTAL BURDEN: 5,081 (4,742 reporting hours plus 339 recordkeeping hours)

TOTAL RESPONDENTS: 218

RESPONSES: 668 (450 responses plus 218 recordkeepers)

TABLE 3

GRANT/COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

PROVISIONS GOVERNMENT COST

Section	No. of Respondents	Responses per Respondent	Number of Responses	Burden Hours per Response	Total Annual Burden Hours	Total Annual Cost @$272/HR
Dispute Review Procedure	0	0	0	25	0	0
Reporting Program Tech. Performance	218	2	436	2	872	$237,184
Patent Rights	0	0	0	10	0	0
Reporting of Royalties	0	0	0	3	0	0
Changes in Principal Investigator or Technical Objectives	10	1	10	10	100	$27,200
Notice and Assistance Regarding Patent and Copyright Infringement	0	0	0	10	0	0
Procurement Standards	0	0	0	0.9	0	0
Suspension or Termination for Cause	0	0	0	20	0	0
Termination for Convenience	0	0	0	20	0	0
Travel (Foreign)	4	1	4	0.5	2	$544
TOTAL	218		450		974	$264,928

1This term represents those nonprofit organizations, universities, other institutions of higher education, professional societies and state and local governments to which the Agency has awarded grants and cooperative agreements.

²There were 218 FY14 NRC Grants and Cooperative Agreements which were active as of Oct 01, 2013.

³These totals were derived from NRC’s AAMS contract database.