Two Federal Register notices were published April 8, 2003, by the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM) that move the federal government’s grant streamlining process forward. The first, Notice of Proposed Requirement to Establish Standard Data Elements, proposes uniform information requirements for all federal grant applications. The second proposes consolidation of several financial reporting forms into a single, uniform report for grant recipients. It would apply to discretionary and formula grants and cooperative agreements. OFFM is seeking public comment by June 9, 2003. Its goal is to have an electronic application system operational by October 2003. See our Grant Streamlining Webpage for more background. OFFM is proposing to use the data elements and definitions, which are listed in ten separate tables at the end of the Federal Register Notice, in Standard Form 424- “Application for Federal Assistance” (SF-424). They also propose to add five additional pieces of information, including:

• Applicant’s Universal Identifying Number (see OMB Watch Comments on OMB’s proposal to use the Dun and Bradstreet DUNS number for this purpose);
• E-Mail address;
• Country location;
• Fax number; and
• Type of Applicant (e.g. local government, nonprofit, university, etc.)

In addition, the notice proposes consolidation of “Assurance of Compliance” forms, by which applicants can certify that they have reviewed policy requirements (such as civil rights and environmental protection goals) and administrative requirements (such as audits) in the grant application. Agencies' grant announcements will list all required assurances, and if the grant application were approved, the group would receive another notice of these requirements. This gives potential applicants the opportunity to review these requirements in one place prior to making a decision to apply for the grant. The proposed financial information form consolidates the current “Financial Status Report” (SF-269 and 269a) and the “Federal Cash Transaction Report (SF 272 and 272a). Four new information items are proposed, including: Universal identifying number, total required match, the remaining match to be provided and the grantee's email address. OMB Watch will be filing comments based on feedback from nonprofits as part of the Streamlining Grants Management Project, a joint effort with the Urban Institute and Guide Star. You can review the proposed data elements and provide feedback through our online forum, send your comments to Kay Guinane at kguinane@ombwatch.org, or submit your own comments. (See Federal Register notice for specific instructions.)