[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 1, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36144-36145]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-17256]
[[Page 36143]]
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Part VII
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Department of Education
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34 CFR Parts 74 and 80
Administration of Grants and Agreements With Institutions of Higher
Education, Hospitals, and Other Non-Profit Organizations; and Uniform
Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to
State and Local Governments; Final Rule
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 126 / Wednesday July 1, 1998 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 36144]]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Parts 74 and 80
Administration of Grants and Agreements With Institutions of
Higher Education, Hospitals, and Other Non-Profit Organizations; and
Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative
Agreements to State and Local Governments
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Applicability of revised Office of Management and Budget
circulars A-21, A-87, A-102, A-110, and A-122.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary announces the applicability of five revised
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulars. These revised
circulars provide conditional exceptions from certain regulatory
requirements for the Department of Education (ED) grant programs. The
Secretary takes this action to promote efficiency in the State and
local program administration of these programs.
DATES: The revised circulars are applicable as of July 1, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ronelle Holloman, U.S. Department of
Education, 600 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 3652, ROB-3, Washington,
DC 20202-4248. Telephone: (202) 205-3501. Individuals who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8
p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding
paragraph.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 29, 1997, OMB published in the
Federal Register (62 FR 45934) final revisions to five OMB circulars.
The five circulars are A-21, ``Cost Principles for Educational
Institutions''; A-87, ``Cost Principles for State, Local, and Indian
Tribal Governments''; A-102, ``Grants and Cooperative Agreements with
State and Local Governments''; A-110, ``Uniform Administrative
Requirements for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher
Education, Hospitals and Other Non-Profit Organizations''; and A-122,
``Cost Principles for Non-Profit Organizations.'' Now the Secretary of
ED announces the applicability of the five revised circulars to the
Department's grant programs.
These revisions to the circulars provide a conditional exception
from the requirements of 34 CFR Part 74 and a conditional class
exception from the requirements of 34 CFR Part 80 for certain ED grant
programs. The programs to which these revisions can apply are those
formula grant programs with statutorily-authorized consolidated
planning and consolidated administrative funding that are identified by
ED and approved by the Secretary.
The Secretary can apply the exception to formula grant programs
that are administered by State and local governments, and have the
following characteristics: the related programs (1) serve a common
program purpose, (2) have specific statutorily-authorized consolidated
planning and consolidated administrative funding, and (3) are
administered by State agencies that are funded mostly by non-Federal
sources. To promote efficiency in the State and local program
administration of such related programs, ED can exempt these covered,
State-administered programs from Federal grants management requirements
in OMB Circulars A-21, A-87, A-110 (34 CFR Part 74), and A-122 and the
Grants Management Common Rule (34 CFR Part 80). The exemptions are from
all but the allocability-of-costs provisions of Circulars A-21 (Section
C, subpart 4), A-87 (Attachment A, subsection C.3), A-122 (Attachment
A, subsection A.4) and from all of the administrative requirements
provisions of 34 CFR parts 74 and 80.
Thus, ED has discretion to exempt a Federal formula grant program
from the Federal grants management requirements. ED will consult with
OMB during its consideration of whether to grant such an exemption.
If ED exempts a Federal formula grant program from these
requirements, a State would be permitted to use only State procedures,
provided that the State adopts its own written fiscal and
administrative requirements for expending and accounting for all funds.
These requirements must be consistent with the provisions of OMB
Circular A-87 and extend to all sub-recipients. These fiscal and
administrative requirements must be sufficiently specific to ensure
that: funds are used in compliance with all applicable Federal
statutory and regulatory provisions; costs are reasonable and necessary
for operating these programs; and funds are not used for general
expenses required to carry out other responsibilities of a State or its
sub-recipients. If a State does not adopt such fiscal and
administrative requirements it will continue to be subject to the
Federal grants management requirements.
The Department of Education implements OMB Circulars A-102 and A-
110 through regulations codified in 34 CFR Parts 80 and 74
respectively. Because these regulations contain sufficient discretion
for ED to implement OMB's guidance, ED does not need to amend these
regulations.
In addition, ED adopts the changes to OMB Circulars A-21, A-87 and
A-122 that contain cost principles for educational institutions, State
and local governments, and non-profit organizations, respectively.
These circulars have been amended several times over the years by OMB,
and ED has adopted these changes by publishing notices in the Federal
Register. For a complete list of prior amendments to these circulars
adopted by ED, please consult the following Federal Register
publications: for OMB Circular A-21, May 8, 1996 (61 FR 20880); for
Circular A-87, May 17, 1995 (60 FR 26484); and for Circular A-122, May
14, 1997 (62 FR 26577).
The five circulars are available by calling OMB's Publication
Office at (202) 395-7332, or they can be obtained in electronic form
from the OMB Home Page at (http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/omb).
Waiver of Notice and Comment
It is the practice of the Secretary to offer interested parties the
opportunity to comment on proposed actions in accordance with the
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553). However, since OMB
previously provided the public an opportunity for comment on the
revision of Circulars A-21, A-87, A-102, A-110 and A-122, the Secretary
finds that soliciting further public comment with respect to adopting
the revised circulars is unnecessary and contrary to the public
interest under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). For the same reasons, the Secretary
waives the delayed effective date for this action under 5 U.S.C.
553(d).
Electronic Access to This Document
Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or
portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the
following sites:
http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
To use the pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you
have questions
[[Page 36145]]
about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government Printing Office toll free
at 1-888-293-6498.
Anyone may also view these documents in text copy only on an
electronic bulletin board of the Department. Telephone: (202) 219-1511
or, toll free, 1-800-222-4922. The documents are located under Option
G--Files/Announcements, Bulletins and Press Releases.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register.
Dated: June 23, 1998.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number does not apply.)
Donald Rappaport,
Chief Financial and Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 98-17256 Filed 6-30-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
