97-23878. Cost Principles for Educational Institutions  

  • [Federal Register Volume 62, Number 175 (Wednesday, September 10, 1997)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 47722-47726]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 97-23878]
    
    
    
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    Part II
    
    
    
    
    
    Office of Management and Budget
    
    
    
    
    
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    Cost Principles for Educational Institutions; Notice
    
    Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 175 / Wednesday, September 10, 1997 / 
    Notices
    
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    OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
    
    
    Cost Principles for Educational Institutions
    
    AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget.
    
    ACTION: Proposed revisions to OMB Circular A-21.
    
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    SUMMARY: This notice proposes to revise Office of Management and Budget 
    Circular A-21, ``Cost Principles for Educational Institutions,'' by: 
    (1) Establishing guidance for Federal cost negotiators to assure the 
    reasonableness of facility costs, (2) implementing a new alternative 
    approach to replace using special cost studies for the recovery of 
    utility costs and deferring the elimination of special cost studies for 
    the recovery of library costs, (3) providing additional guidance on the 
    calculation of depreciation and use allowances on buildings and 
    equipment, (4) proposing the use of and soliciting input on a standard 
    format for facility and administrative rate proposal submissions, and 
    (5) changing the distribution basis for the facilities and 
    administrative cost application (from salaries and wages to modified 
    total direct costs) at universities that use the simplified (short-
    form) method to calculate their facilities and administrative rate.
    
    DATE: Comments on these proposals are due November 10, 1997.
    
    ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to Gilbert Tran, Financial 
    Standards and Reporting Branch, Office of Federal Financial Management, 
    Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, N.W., Room 6025, 
    Washington, DC 20503. Comments up to three pages in length may be 
    submitted via facsimile to 202-395-4915. Electronic mail comments may 
    be submitted via Internet to [email protected] Please include the 
    full body of electronic mail comments in the text and not as an 
    attachment. Please include the name, title, organization, postal 
    address, and E-mail address in the text of the message.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Non-Federal organizations should contact the 
    organization's cognizant Federal agency. Federal agencies should 
    contact Gilbert Tran, Financial Standards and Reporting Branch, Office 
    of Federal Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget, (202) 
    395-3993.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    
    A. Purpose of Circular A-21
    
        Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-21, ``Cost 
    Principles for Educational Institutions,'' establishes principles for 
    determining costs applicable to Federal grants, contracts, and other 
    sponsored agreements with educational institutions.
    
    B. Recent Prior Revisions
    
        Circular A-21 was last amended on May 8, 1996 (61 FR 20880). The 
    1996 revision incorporated four Cost Accounting Standards applicable to 
    educational institutions, issued by the Cost Accounting Standards Board 
    (CASB) on November 8, 1994 (59 FR 55746), and extended these standards 
    to all sponsored agreements. The revision also: required certain large 
    institutions to disclose their cost accounting practices by the 
    submission of a Disclosure Statement prescribed by the CASB; amended 
    the definition of equipment; eliminated in 1998 the use of special cost 
    studies to allocate utility, library and student services costs; and, 
    required the use of fixed facilities and administrative (F&A) cost 
    rates for the life of sponsored agreements. Furthermore, the 1996 
    revision: established cost negotiation cognizant agency 
    responsibilities; replaced the term ``indirect costs'' with 
    ``facilities and administrative costs'' (to describe more accurately 
    the various cost components of sponsored agreements); clarified the 
    policy for a change from use allowance to depreciation; added criteria 
    to interest allowability; and, disallowed tuition benefits for employee 
    family members.
    
    C. Revisions Proposed for Comment
    
        On February 6, 1995, OMB published two sets of proposed revisions 
    (60 FR 7104 and 60 FR 7105). The first set was finalized in 1996, as 
    described in Section B. The second set required further development 
    prior to proposed implementation. The following proposed revisions 
    address the second set of proposals made in 1995.
    
    1. Establish a Review Process To Ensure the Reasonableness of Facility 
    Costs.
    
        To increase accountability in the research component of F&A costs 
    and ensure that the cost of new research facilities passes a ``prudent 
    person'' test of reasonableness, OMB proposes to establish a review 
    process for research facility construction project costs. The proposal, 
    which is detailed in a new Section F.2.b, would require Federal cost 
    negotiators to determine whether the gross square foot (GSF) cost of 
    new research facilities with an actual or estimated total cost of more 
    than $10 million (or renovation costs of more than $4 million) meet the 
    reasonableness test. The review process would apply to all new research 
    building construction and renovation projects that are included in F&A 
    rates negotiated after January 1, 2000. The review process would apply 
    only to research buildings in which 40 percent or more of total space 
    is devoted to federally-sponsored agreements.
        Federal cost negotiators will rely on the most recent GSF data 
    collected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in response to its 
    biennial survey, ``Science and Engineering Facilities at Colleges and 
    Universities.'' Biennially, NSF will calculate the median cost per GSF 
    figures for new research facilities and the median cost per GSF for 
    renovations to research facilities. NSF will publish these results in 
    its biennial survey report, which is publicly available. The review 
    will apply to projects in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 
    and the benchmarks will be broken down into the ten Federal regions 
    established by OMB Circular A-105, ``Standard Federal Regions,'' in 
    April of 1974, minus the island territories (in addition, as explained 
    below, Alaska and Hawaii raise unique issues).
        The cost items that go into research facility costs have been found 
    to be geographically sensitive and so the costs within contiguous and 
    regional states should be comparable. NSF analyzed previous years' 
    construction cost data by these longstanding Federal regions, and found 
    that geography explained a significant degree of variation in cost-per-
    square-foot in university research facilities and that the Federal 
    regional grouping provided a reasonable approximation of comparable 
    construction costs. Further, the geographic regions established in 
    Circular A-105 are used by the Department of Health and Human Services, 
    which has negotiation cognizance over a majority of educational 
    institutions, in their administration of grants and contracts and is 
    familiar with the grantee community. Therefore, OMB proposes to use 
    these ten regions for initiating the review process for a particular 
    university facility costs. Given that other geographic groupings could 
    be contemplated, OMB invites suggestions of other geographic groupings 
    that might be demonstrated to be significant contributors to research 
    facility costs. See proposed new Appendix C to Circular A-21.
    
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        In reviewing data pertaining to newly-constructed or renovated 
    space, Federal cost negotiators will determine whether the facility's 
    GSF cost exceeds 125 percent of the NSF median for the region in which 
    the facility is located. No justification is necessary if the GSF cost 
    is below the 125 percent benchmark. If the GSF cost exceeds the 125 
    percent benchmark, then institutions must submit detailed and 
    quantitative justifications in order for such costs to be considered in 
    rate negotiations. Acceptable justification should address one of the 
    following:
        (a) Lower life-cycle costs--The institution must demonstrate that 
    it will incur higher up-front costs in constructing a facility in order 
    to lower operating costs, and that the initial investment will benefit 
    the institution and sponsored research agreements; or
        (b) Unique research needs--The institution must demonstrate that 
    unusual design or materials are required for the type of research. For 
    example, biomedical research space costs are typically more expensive 
    than the costs of other types of research space.
        Additionally, given the different nature of construction costs in 
    Alaska and Hawaii, a third acceptable justification for construction 
    costs to exceed the benchmarks is that the project lies in one of those 
    states.
        If an institution's justification is accepted by the Federal cost 
    negotiators, the full GSF cost amount may be included in the 
    institution's calculation of its depreciation or use allowance. If an 
    institution's justification is not deemed acceptable, the Federal cost 
    negotiators will limit payment of facilities' depreciation or use 
    allowance to the 125 percent benchmark rate for the region in which the 
    facility is located. If an institution submits justification that 
    justifies costs above the benchmark but justifies an amount less than 
    actual or estimated costs, the Federal cost negotiators and 
    institutions may arrive at an amount above 125 percent of the regional 
    median but less than the actual or estimated costs that may be included 
    in an institution's calculation of depreciation and use allowance.
    
    2. Implement an Alternative Approach for the Payment of Utility Costs 
    and Defer the Elimination of Special Cost Studies for the Recovery of 
    Library Costs
    
        The 1996 revision to Circular A-21 indicated that special cost 
    studies will be eliminated starting with fiscal years beginning on or 
    after July 1, 1998. OMB committed to developing an alternative approach 
    to replace special cost studies for utility costs. The proposed 
    alternative approach, as outlined in proposed new subsections F.4.c and 
    d, provides a simple methodology to pay for increased utility costs 
    related to research activities. The approach consists of adding a 
    utility cost adjustment (UCA) of 1.3 percentage points to the 
    university's overall F&A organized research rate calculated using the 
    standard Circular A-21 allocation methods. The 1.3 percentage points 
    represent the weighted average incremental rate that the Federal 
    Government paid above the rate calculated using the standard allocation 
    methodology to institutions that submitted in the past special utility 
    studies for utility costs related to research activities. OMB will 
    periodically reassess the UCA.
        The UCA will initially be available, starting with fiscal years 
    beginning on or after July 1, 1998, to the institutions that included 
    special cost studies in their most recently submitted F&A proposal. The 
    list of these institutions, based on review of Federal records, is 
    provided in Attachment A to this proposal. OMB will develop criteria by 
    which the institutions may be periodically recertified and by which 
    other institutions could qualify for the UCA by July 1, 2002 and may 
    change the UCA.
        Further, due to the uncertain effects of recent and ongoing changes 
    to university libraries and their services brought about by the 
    increased use of the Internet and on-line research, OMB proposes to 
    defer the elimination of special cost studies to support the allocation 
    of library costs until OMB has an opportunity to evaluate the impact of 
    these changes on the costs of library services benefitting organized 
    research. See proposed revised subsection E.2.d.(5).
    
    3. Provide Additional Guidelines on Depreciation and Use Allowances
    
        In 1995, OMB stated its intention to examine and potentially revise 
    the current useful life schedules for equipment, the cost of which is 
    allocated to federally-sponsored agreements through a use allowance, to 
    ensure that F&A recovery payments keep pace with the changing nature of 
    scientific equipment. The use allowance methodology is based on an 
    averaging concept that defines a 15-year useful life as an average life 
    for all equipment at educational institutions. OMB's examination of 
    this issue determined that the current 15-year useful life used in the 
    computation of use allowance is, on balance, reasonable. That is, 
    although the 15-year useful life may not match the expected life of 
    some types of equipment (e.g., scientific and computer equipment), it 
    remains appropriate considering the longer useful life of other types 
    of equipment (e.g., furniture and fixtures). Therefore, OMB does not 
    intend to revise the useful life for equipment for the use allowance 
    method.
        For those educational institutions that find that a shorter useful 
    life for their equipment is more appropriate, Circular A-21 allows the 
    use of depreciation for the recovery of equipment costs.
        To provide more consistency in the treatment of use allowance and 
    depreciation among educational institutions and Federal cognizant 
    agencies, OMB proposes the following clarifications for the calculation 
    of depreciation and use allowance:
        (a) Use allowance recovery shall be limited to the acquisition 
    costs of assets, or fair market value of donated assets at the time of 
    donation (see proposed revised subsection J.2.c).
        (b) Institutions that report depreciation in their financial 
    statements must use the same depreciation methodology and useful lives 
    for the F&A proposal (see proposed revised subsection J.12.b).
        (c) Guidelines are proposed for the calculation of depreciation on 
    buildings when depreciation is calculated on individual building 
    components (see proposed revised subsection J.12.b). This revision 
    establishes general categories of building components for the 
    assignment of useful life.
        (d) Gains and losses shall be computed on the disposition of 
    depreciable assets (see proposed revised section J.33). This is how 
    gains and losses are computed under other OMB cost principles found in 
    Circulars A-87, ``Cost Principles for State, Local and Indian Tribal 
    Governments,'' and A-122, ``Cost Principles for Non-Profit 
    Organizations,'' in the treatment of gains or losses resulting from 
    disposition of depreciable assets. Previously, Circular A-21 was silent 
    on this issue because depreciation calculations were not required for 
    educational institutions under generally accepted accounting principles 
    (GAAP).
    
    4. Propose To Develop a Standard Format for the Ssubmission of F&A 
    Proposals
    
        A standard format would assist institutions in completing their F&A 
    rate proposal more efficiently and help the Federal cognizant agency 
    review each proposal on a more consistent basis. It would also allow 
    the Federal Government to collect improved information about F&A costs 
    and to analyze F&A data that could be useful
    
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    in explaining variances in F&A rates among institutions. OMB intends to 
    develop the standard format with assistance from Federal agencies, 
    universities, and other interested parties, and then request comments 
    under the Paperwork Reduction Act through a notice in the Federal 
    Register. When completed, it will be included as an Appendix to the 
    Circular and be available electronically.
    
    5. Change the distribution Basis for F&A Application (From Salaries and 
    Wages to Modified Total Direct Costs) for Institutions That Use the 
    Simplified Allocation Method
    
        This change, detailed in proposed revised Section H.2, would 
    provide more comparability between F&A rates at small and large 
    universities.
    
    D. Other Proposed Items for Consideration in the 1995 Notice
    
        OMB does not propose at this time to make revisions on two other 
    items that were discussed in the 1995 Federal Register notice. They 
    were: (1) to develop methods for direct charging of space costs, and 
    (2) to develop new methods for charging specialized services 
    facilities. The following discussion summarizes the result of OMB's 
    analyses on these two items.
    
    1. Develop Methods for Direct Charging of Space Costs
    
        In February 1995, OMB stated its intention to develop and test a 
    model for charging facilities costs directly to sponsored agreements. 
    The objective of this study was to strengthen the incentive for 
    universities to allocate space costs more efficiently. OMB asked the 
    Federal Demonstration Project (FDP), which was created to test ways to 
    improve flexibility and reduce administrative costs associated with 
    grant-making, to perform the study. In October 1995, the FDP reported 
    to OMB that it had developed three models of direct charging space 
    costs to sponsored agreements. It also reported that, although direct 
    charging is likely to produce more efficient use of space, it could 
    also impose an excessive administrative burden on educational 
    institutions and Federal agencies.
        In recognition of the FDP's concerns, OMB is not formally pursuing 
    this concept at the present time. However, OMB requests that Federal 
    research agencies attempt to identify candidate institutions willing to 
    pilot test direct charging. Federal agencies should work with pilot 
    institutions to identify the best ways to quantify the efficiencies and 
    administrative burdens direct charging creates and to see if an 
    acceptable balance can be developed.
    
    2. Consider New Methods for Charging Specialized Service Facilities
    
        In February 1995, OMB stated its intention to develop a standard 
    methodology for uniform treatment of specialized service facilities 
    (e.g., animal care, computer centers and biohazard centers). OMB 
    examined the issue and is not considering a change at this time in the 
    current provisions for charging specialized service facilities costs.
        OMB intended to identify the operating expenses of specialized 
    service facilities that should be allocated to the direct costs and 
    those to be included in a facility-specific rate or the general 
    facilities cost pool. Based on OMB's analysis, costs associated with 
    the specialized service facilities can be generally identified to these 
    facilities. In accordance with current provisions of Circular A-21, 
    these costs shall be directly assigned to the special service 
    facilities and shall not be included in a facility-specific rate or the 
    general facilities cost pool, unless the costs are immaterial or not 
    readily identifiable. To allow the allocation of facilities and general 
    administrative costs associated with specific specialized service 
    facilities to a general facilities cost pool would violate the basic 
    allocability principles of OMB cost principles Circulars (A-21, A-87 
    and A-122) and inequitably distribute costs to projects that do not 
    benefit from the specialized service facilities.
    
    E. Clarification on the Use of Fixed Rates for the Life of the 
    Sponsored Agreement
    
        On May 8, 1996, OMB revised Circular A-21 by adding section G.7, 
    ``Fixed rates for the life of the sponsored agreement,'' (61 FR 20891) 
    to require Federal agencies to ``use the negotiated rates for F&A costs 
    in effect at the time of the initial award throughout the life of the 
    sponsored agreement.'' In a response to public comments in the preamble 
    section (61 FR 20884), OMB indicated that ``negotiated rates'' could 
    include predetermined, fixed or provisional rates; and that provisional 
    rates could be used for both funding and reimbursement throughout the 
    life of the award.
        OMB's intention in section G.7 was to require the Federal funding 
    agencies to use the negotiated rates (final, fixed or predetermined 
    rate) in effect at the time of the initial award to determine the total 
    funding and the reimbursement of F&A costs of a multi-year project. 
    Therefore, this notice is to clarify that ``negotiated rates,'' as 
    mentioned in section G.7, do not include provisional rates.
    G. Edward DeSeve,
    Controller.
    
        Circular A-21 is proposed to be revised as follows:
        1. Replace subsection E.2.d.(5) with the following:
        (5) Notwithstanding subsection (3), effective July 1, 1998, a cost 
    analysis or base other than that in Section F shall not be used to 
    distribute utility or student services costs. Instead, subsections 
    F.4.c and F.4.d may be used in the recovery of utility costs.
        2. Renumber subsection F.2.b to F.2.c, and change the reference in 
    subsection F.4.b from ``subsection 2.b'' to ``subsection 2.c.''
        3. Add new subsection F.2.b:
        b. Review of selected research facilities construction costs. 
    Cognizant agencies shall review the reasonableness of the construction 
    costs, used in an institution's calculation of depreciation or use 
    allowance, for all research-related capital projects that meet the 
    criteria in subsection (1). The review requires Federal cost 
    negotiators to determine, prior to including a new or renovated 
    research facility's costs in an institution's F&A proposal, whether the 
    cost per gross square foot (GSF) of new facilities is reasonable when 
    compared with benchmarks for construction or renovation costs discussed 
    in subsection (2). The goals of this objective review process are: to 
    ensure that research facility costs charged to federally-sponsored 
    agreements are reasonable, to increase accountability in the facilities 
    component of F&A costs, and to encourage efficient construction and 
    renovation of research facilities.
        (1) All new research capital projects, on which design and 
    construction begins after July 1, 1998, which are included in F&A rate 
    proposals negotiated after January 1, 2000, shall be reviewed if they 
    meet the following criteria:
        (a) Facilities construction costs are greater than or equal to $10 
    million, or renovation costs greater than or equal to $4 million; and
        (b) 40 percent or more of the facility's depreciation or use 
    allowance is assigned to federally-sponsored agreements at any time 
    during the life of the building.
        (2) The benchmark is equal to 125 percent of the most recent cost 
    per GSF data the National Science Foundation (NSF) collects in response 
    to its biennial survey, ``Science and Engineering Facilities at 
    Colleges and Universities.'' Using these survey data, NSF will
    
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    biennially calculate median cost per GSF for new research facilities 
    constructed and median cost per GSF for renovation projects completed 
    at colleges and universities. These benchmarks will be broken down 
    according to ten Federal regions (see Appendix C of Circular A-21).
        (3) No justification is necessary if the cost per GSF is below the 
    125 percent benchmark. If the cost per GSF exceeds 125 percent of the 
    median cost for the region in which the facility of an institution is 
    located, then the institution must submit detailed and quantitative 
    justification in order for such costs to be considered in rate 
    negotiation. While the submission can address other justifications, the 
    institution must address whether the following justify the higher 
    rates:
        (a) Lower life-cycle costs--The institution incurred higher up-
    front costs in constructing a facility in order to lower operating 
    costs. This initial investment will benefit the institution and 
    sponsored research agreements; or
        (b) Unique research needs--The unusual design or materials, if 
    required for the type of research, that significantly increased the 
    construction costs of the facility. For example, biomedical research 
    space costs are typically more expensive than the costs for other types 
    of research space, according to NSF facilities data.
        Additionally, given the different nature of construction costs in 
    Alaska and Hawaii, a third acceptable justification for construction 
    costs to exceed the benchmarks is that the project lies in one of those 
    states.
        If the Federal cost negotiators determine that an institution's 
    justification is acceptable, then the full GSF cost amount may be 
    included in the institution's calculation of its depreciation or use 
    allowance. If the Federal cost negotiators determine that an 
    institution's justification is not acceptable, then the Federal cost 
    negotiators will limit payment of facility's depreciation or use 
    allowance to the 125 percent benchmark rate for the region in which the 
    facility is located. If the Federal cost negotiators determine that an 
    institution has submitted a justification that justifies costs above 
    the benchmark but at an amount less than actual or estimated costs, 
    then the Federal cost negotiators and institutions may arrive at an 
    amount above 125 percent of the regional median but less than the 
    actual or estimated costs that may be included in an institution's 
    calculation of depreciation or use allowance.
        4. Add new subsections F.4.c and F.4.d:
        c. For F&A rates negotiated on or after July 1, 1998, an 
    institution that previously employed a utility special cost study in 
    its most recently negotiated F&A rate proposal in accordance with 
    Section E.2.d, may add a utility cost adjustment (UCA) of 1.3 
    percentage points to its negotiated overall F&A rate for organized 
    research. The allocation of utility costs to the benefitting functions 
    shall otherwise be made in the same manner as described in subsection 
    F.4.b. Beginning on July 1, 2002, Federal agencies shall reassess 
    periodically the eligibility of institutions to receive the UCA.
        d. Beginning on July 1, 2002, Federal agencies shall receive 
    applications for utilization of the UCA from institutions not subject 
    to the provisions of subsection F.4.c.
        5. Replace subsection H.1.a with the following:
        a. Where the total direct cost of work covered by Circular A-21 at 
    an institution does not exceed $10 million in a fiscal year, the use of 
    the simplified procedure described in subsection 2, may be used in 
    determining allowable F&A costs. Under this simplified procedure, the 
    institution's most recent annual financial report and immediately 
    available supporting information shall be utilized as basis for 
    determining the F&A cost rate applicable to all sponsored agreements.
        6. Replace subsection H.2.a with the following:
        a. Establish the total costs incurred by the institution for the 
    base period.
        7. Replace subsection H.2.c with the following:
        c. Establish the modified total direct cost distribution base, as 
    defined in Section G.2.
        8. Replace subsection H.2.e with the following:
        e. Apply the F&A cost rate to the modified total direct costs for 
    individual agreements to determine the amount of F&A costs allocable to 
    such agreements.
        9. Replace subsection J.12.b.(2) with the following:
        (2) The depreciation method used to charge the cost of an asset (or 
    group of assets) to accounting periods shall reflect the pattern of 
    consumption of the asset during its useful life. In the absence of 
    clear evidence indicating that the expected consumption of the asset 
    will be significantly greater in the early portions than in the later 
    portions of its useful life, the straight-line method shall be presumed 
    to be the appropriate method. Depreciation methods once used shall not 
    be changed unless approved in advance by the cognizant Federal agency. 
    The depreciation methods used to calculate the depreciation amounts for 
    F&A rate purposes shall be the same methods used by the institution for 
    its financial statements. This section does not apply to institutions 
    (e.g., public institutions) which are not required to record 
    depreciation by applicable generally accepted accounting principles 
    (GAAP).
        10. Replace subsection J.12.b.(4) with the following:
        (4) When the depreciation method is used for buildings, a building 
    may be divided into three general components. Each component item must 
    then be depreciated over its estimated useful life. The three general 
    components of a building are: building shell (including construction 
    and design costs), building services systems (e.g., elevators, HVAC, 
    plumbing system and heating and air-conditioning system) and fixed 
    equipment (e.g., sterilizers, casework, fumehoods, cold rooms and 
    glassware/washers). When an institution elects to depreciate its 
    buildings by its components, the same depreciation methods must be used 
    for F&A purposes and financial statements purposes, as described in 
    subsection b.(2). However, the entire building, including the shell and 
    all components, may be treated as a single asset and depreciated over a 
    single useful life.
        11. Replace subsection J.12.c.(1) with the following:
        (1) The use allowance for buildings and improvements (including 
    improvements such as paved parking areas, fences, and sidewalks) shall 
    be computed at an annual rate not exceeding two percent of acquisition 
    cost. The use allowance for equipment shall be computed at an annual 
    rate not exceeding six and two-thirds percent of acquisition cost. Use 
    allowance recovery is limited to the acquisition costs of the assets. 
    For donated assets, use allowance is limited to the fair market of the 
    assets at the time of donation.
        12. Replace section J.33 with the following:
        33. Profits and losses on disposition of plant equipment or other 
    capital assets.
        a. (1) Gains and losses on the sale, retirement, or other 
    disposition of depreciable property shall be included in the year in 
    which they occur as credits or charges to the asset cost grouping(s) in 
    which the property was included. The amount of the gain or loss to be 
    included as a credit or charge to the appropriate asset cost 
    grouping(s) shall be the difference between the amount realized on the 
    property and the undepreciated basis of the property.
        (2) Gains and losses on the disposition of depreciable property 
    shall
    
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    not be recognized as a separate credit or charge under the following 
    conditions:
        (a) The gain or loss is processed through a depreciation account 
    and is reflected in the depreciation allowable under Section J.12.
        (b) The property is given in exchange as part of the purchase price 
    of a similar item and the gain or loss is taken into account in 
    determining the depreciation cost basis of the new item.
        (c) A loss results from the failure to maintain permissible 
    insurance, except as otherwise provided in Section J.21.d.
        (d) Compensation for the use of the property was provided through 
    use allowances in lieu of depreciation.
        b. Gains or losses of any nature arising from the sale or exchange 
    of property other than the property covered in subsection a shall be 
    excluded in computing Federal award costs.
        c. When assets acquired with Federal funds, in part or wholly, are 
    disposed of, the distribution of the proceeds shall be made in 
    accordance with Circular A-110, ``Uniform Administrative Requirements 
    for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, 
    Hospitals, and Other Non-Profit Organizations.''
        13. Add new Appendix C.
    
    Appendix C
    
           Federal Regions for Construction Benchmark Facilities Costs      
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               States (and the District of  
                     Region                             Columbia)           
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I......................................  Connecticut, Maine,            
                                              Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 
                                              Rhode Island and Vermont.     
    II.....................................  New York and New Jersey.       
    III....................................  Delaware, Maryland,            
                                              Pennsylvania, Virginia, West  
                                              Virginia and District of      
                                              Columbia.                     
    IV.....................................  Alabama, Florida, Georgia,     
                                              Kentucky, Mississippi, North  
                                              Carolina, South Carolina and  
                                              Tennessee.                    
    V......................................  Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,   
                                              Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
    VI.....................................  Arkansas, Louisiana, New       
                                              Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.   
    VII....................................  Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and     
                                              Nebraska.                     
    VIII...................................  Colorado, Montana, North       
                                              Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and
                                              Wyoming.                      
    IX.....................................  Arizona, California, Hawaii and
                                              Nevada.                       
    X......................................  Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and      
                                              Washington.                   
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    Attachment A
    
        Listing of institutions that included special cost studies for 
    the recovery of utility costs in their most recent F&A proposal 
    submission based on a review of Federal records.
    
     1. Boston College
     2. Boston University
     3. California Institute of Technology
     4. Columbia University
     5. Cornell University (Endowed)
     6. Cornell University (Statutory)
     7. Cornell University (Medical)
     8. Emory University
     9. Harvard Medical School
    10. Harvard University
    11. Johns Hopkins University
    12. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    13. Medical University of South Carolina
    14. Mount Sinai School of Medicine
    15. New York University (except New York University Medical Center)
    16. New York University Medical Center
    17. North Carolina State University
    18. Northeastern University
    19. Oregon Health Sciences University
    20. Oregon State University
    21. Rice University
    22. Rockefeller University
    23. Stanford University
    24. Tufts University
    25. Tulane University
    26. University of Arizona
    27. University of CA, Berkeley
    28. University of CA, Irvine
    29. University of CA, Los Angeles
    30. University of CA, San Diego
    31. University of CA, San Francisco
    32. University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center
    33. University of Illinois, Urbana
    34. University of Pennsylvania
    35. University of Pittsburgh
    36. University of Rochester
    37. University of Southern California
    38. University of Virginia
    39. University of Michigan
    40. University of Massachusetts, Medical Center
    41. University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey
    42. University of Connecticut, Health Sciences Center
    43. University of Vermont & State Agriculture College
    44. University of Texas, Austin
    45. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
    46. Virginia Commonwealth University
    47. Vanderbilt University
    48. Washington University
    49. Yale University
    50. Yeshiva University
    
    [FR Doc. 97-23878 Filed 9-9-97; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 3110-01-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Published:
09/10/1997
Department:
Management and Budget Office
Entry Type:
Notice
Action:
Proposed revisions to OMB Circular A-21.
Document Number:
97-23878
Dates:
Comments on these proposals are due November 10, 1997.
Pages:
47722-47726 (5 pages)
PDF File:
97-23878.pdf