[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 215 (Tuesday, November 8, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-27659]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: November 8, 1994]
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NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES
45 CFR Part 1180
Institute of Museum Services: General Operating Support,
Conservation Project Support
AGENCY: Institute of Museum Services, NFAH.
ACTION: Technical amendment to regulations.
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SUMMARY: The Institute of Museum Services issues a technical amendment
to regulations governing the audit requirement for applicants to the
General Operating Support and the Conservation Project Support grant
programs. The amendment raises the level of a museum's annual operating
budget from $50,000 to $250,000 to be eligible to request a deferral of
the submission of the audited financial statements. The amendment to
the regulations implement the Museum Services Act. They state the
conditions for an applicant to be eligible for a deferral of the audit
requirement.
DATES: This regulation is effective November 8, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Institution of Museum Services, Room 510, 1100 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20506.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rebecca Danvers, Program Director, Telephone (202) 606-8539.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
General Background
The Museum Services Act (``the Act'' which is Title II of the Arts,
Humanities and Cultural Affairs Act of 1976, was enacted on October 8,
1976 and amended in 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1990.) The purpose of
the Act is stated in section 202 as follows:
It is the purpose of the Museum Services Act to encourage and
assist museums in their educational role in conjunction with formal
systems of elementary, secondary, and post secondary education and with
programs of non-formal education for all age groups; to assist museums
in modernizing their methods and facilities so that they may be better
able to conserve our cultural, historic, and scientific heritage and to
ease the financial burden borne by museums as a result of their
increasing use by the public.
The Act establishes an Institute of Museum Services (IMS)
consisting of a National Museum Service Board and Director.
The Act provides that the National Museum Services Board shall
consist of fifteen members appointed for fixed terms by the President
with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Chairman of the Board is
designated by the President from the appointed members. Members are
broadly representative of various museum disciplines, including those
relating to science, history, technology, art, zoos, and botanical
gardens' of the curatorial, educational, and cultural resources of the
United States; and of the general public. The Board has the
responsibility for establishing the general policies of the Institute.
The Director is authorized, subject to the policy direction of the
Board, to make grant under the Act to museums.
IMS is an independent agency placed in the National Foundation on
the Arts and the Humanities (National Foundation). Pub. L. 101-512 Nov.
5, 1990. The Act lists a number of illustrative activities for which
grants may be made, including assisting museums to improve their
operations.
The Need for the Amendment
Section 1180.11(c)(4) states that a museum that has received a
prior grant from IMS must submit its audited financial statement for
the last fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year in which
application is made or the immediately preceding fiscal year.
Sec. 1180.11(c)(4) authorizes the Director to defer the audit
requirement for a museum that has an annual operating Budget of $50,000
or less, exclusive of non-cash contributions.
The purpose of Sec. 1180.11(c)(4) is to ease the burden of the
audit requirement for small museums, currently those with an annual
operating income of up to $50,000, exclusive of non-cash contributions.
The level of operating income of a museum eligible to request a
deferral has not been increased since the regulation was originally set
forth in 1984. In 1990, IMS conducted a needs assessment of small
museums and in the process defined small museums as those with annual
operating budgets of $250,000 or less, exclusive of non-cash
contributions. This technical amendment to regulation is to reflect the
definition of small museums used by IMS in other grant programs and in
formulating policy.
Executive Order 12866
The contents of this notice have been reviewed in accordance with
Executive Order 12866. Under the terms of the order, the Director has
assessed the potential costs and benefits for the standards, criteria
and procedures in this notice.
The potential costs associated with the contents of this notice are
those determined by the Institute to be necessary for administering
this program effectively and efficiently. In assessing the potential
costs and benefits--both quantitative and qualitative--of these
standards, criteria, and procedures, the Institute has determined that
the benefits of these standards, criteria and procedures justify the
costs.
The Institute has determined that the contents of this notice do
not unduly interfere with State, local, and tribal governments in the
exercise of their governmental functions.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Director certified that the amendment will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of museums. The
amendment will affect certain museums receiving Federal financial
assistance under the Museum Services Act. However, it will not have a
significant economic impact on the entities affected, because it does
not impose excessive regulatory burden or require unnecessary Federal
supervision and because it permits a larger number of museums to seek
deferral of the existing requirement regarding financial statements.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980
The amendment does not add any information collections requirements
under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (Pub. L.
190-511) and provides a larger number of museums may seek deferral of
the requirements of the current regulation.
List of Subjects in 45 CFR Part 1180
Government contracts, Grant programs--education, Museums, National
boards, Nonprofit organizations, reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sunshine Act.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No 45-301 Museum Services
Program).
Dated: October 11, 1994.
Diane B. Frankel,
Director, Institute of Museum Services.
The Institute of Museum Services amends subchapter E of chapter XI
of title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations as set forth below:
PART 1180--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 1180 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 20 USC 961 et seq.
2. Section 1180.11(c)(4) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1180.11 Basic requirements which a museum must meet to be
considered for funding.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
The Director is authorized to defer the audit requirement set forth
in paragraph (c)(2) of this section in the case of a museum with non-
federal operating income of $250,000 or less, exclusive of the value of
non-cash contributions (in the fiscal period preceding the fiscal
period for which the deferral is requested) if the Director finds that
circumstances justify a deferral and that the grant of the deferral
will not be inequitable to other applicants. A deferral may be granted
only upon those conditions and in light of those assurances which the
Director deems appropriate in order to ensure that the purposes of this
paragraph are achieved. If the museum receives an award, the museum
must submit audited financial statements no later than the end of the
grant period for which the deferral is requested.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 94-27659 Filed 11-7-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7036-01-M
