[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 78 (Friday, April 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23754-23755]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-09413]
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Information Collection; Request for Public Comments
AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501, et seq.), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
invites the general public and Federal agencies to comment on a
revision of an approved information form (SF-SAC) that is used to
report audit results, audit findings, and questioned costs as required
by the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (31 U.S.C. 7501, et seq.)
and 2 CFR part 200,''Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost
Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.''
The first notice of this information collection request, as
required by the Paperwork Reduction act, was published in the Federal
Register on December 9, 2015 (80 FR 76581). The proposed changes are to
revise some existing data elements in the form and add other data
elements that would make it easier for the Federal agencies to identify
the types of audit findings reported in the audits performed under the
Single Audit Act. The current Form SF-SAC was designed for audit
periods ending in 2013, 2014 and 2015 (for FY 2015 for audit periods
beginning before December 26, 2014). The proposed revised Form SF-SAC
is designed for audit periods ending in 2015, 2016 and 2017 (for FY
2015 audit periods beginning on or after December 26, 2014). The detail
proposed changes, the proposed format and discussion of the public
comments and responses are described on OMB Web site at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_forms/. To help respondents make sure
they complete the correct version of the Form SF-SAC and to prevent
them from filling out the Form SF-SAC when they are not required to do
so, the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) data collection system will
ask if the auditee is a state, local government, Indian Tribe,
institution of higher education (IHE), or nonprofit organization, the
auditee's fiscal period begin and end dates, is the auditee U.S. based,
and did the auditee met the expenditure threshold. For fiscal years
starting on or after December 26, 2014, the FAC also plans to allow
Non-Federal entities who did not meet the threshold requiring
submission of a Single Audit report to voluntarily notify the FAC that
they did not meet the reporting threshold. This information helps the
Federal agencies in the review of applicants that fall below the
reporting requirements. The FAC plans to put this information on their
Web site. The FAC intends to continue collection of late submissions
and revisions from auditees on the two previous versions of the Form
SF-SAC. The FAC may suspend the collection of late submissions on
previous versions of the Form SF-SAC after five years.
Pilot Project To Reduce Duplication Via Single Audit Concept Form
In developing the current form, OMB has identified some potential
duplication in the current process for reporting the SF-SAC and the
Schedule of Expenditure for Financial Assistance (SEFA). Currently,
awardees subject to Single Audit reporting create a Schedule of
Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) and use it to complete their SF-
FAC through the Federal Audit Clearing (FAC) House. The SEFA and the
SF-SAC contain similar data which is submitted to FAC in two formats.
Therefore, as a part of the DATA Act Section 5 Pilot to Reduce
Recipient Reporting Burden, OMB and the Department of Health and Humand
Services (DATA Act Program Management Office (DAP)) would like to test
a more streamlined process for submitting the SEFA. Under this test,
participants would be provided the opportunity to use an expanded SF-
SAC Concept Form which includes a additional information related to the
SEFA notes . The FAC would then generate a customizable SEFA that a
recipient could download, modify, and include in their Annual Single
Audit Report.
DAP has developed a detailed draft sampling process to help
identify and recruit potential participants for the Test Model. DAP has
determined that it will target a minimum of 42 participants per Test
Model. In order to achieve this goal, DAP will perform targeted
outreach to a sample of Federal award recipients from the
USAspending.gov database for FY15 reflecting the diversity of the
recipient community. DAP target recipients who meet the Single Audit
criterion of expending $750,000 or more annually in federal funds.
Recognizing that PRA requires that OMB approve federally sponsored data
collection of the public, DAP will reach out to an identified sample of
702 recipients with information on the Section 5 Grants Pilot and a
Test Model participation form to request information from recipients
after receiving OMB PRA clearance. DAP expects to receive PRA clearance
for this data collection in late winter/early spring 2016. Interested
participants will be requested to read brief descriptions of the Test
Models and indicate all Test Models in which they would like to
participate. DAP will continuously monitor recipient responses,
feedback, and preferences. DAP will assign interested recipients to
Test Models based on indicated interest while maintaining diversity
amongst recipients for each Test Model. DAP will follow up and engage
with recipients as necessary in an effort to achieve the stated goal of
42 participants per Test Model. DAP is also collecting contact
information for recipients interested in Test Model participation
through voluntary self-nomination and third-party recommendations.
The concept form is included under this notice and will be used for
the pilot project. We are not requesting comments on this concept form
during this 30 day period, but the comments will be collected as part
of the pilot project conducted by DAP. The concept form is also
displayed on OMB Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_forms/.
DATES: Submit comments on or before May 23, 2016. Late comments will be
considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: Electronic mail comments may be submitted to: Gilbert Tran
at [email protected]. Please include ``Form SF-SAC 2016
Comments--30 Days PRA'' in the subject line and the full body of your
comments in the text of the electronic
[[Page 23755]]
message, not as an attachment. Please include your name, title,
organization, postal address, telephone number and email address in the
text of the message. Comments may also be submitted via facsimile to
202-395-3952. Comments may be mailed to Gilbert Tran, Office of Federal
Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget, Room 6025, New
Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503.
All responses will be summarized and included in the request for
OMB approval. All comments will also be a matter of public record.
Due to potential delays in OMB's receipt and processing of mail
sent through the U.S. Postal Service, we encourage respondents to
submit comments electronically to ensure timely receipt. We cannot
guarantee that mailed comments will be received before the comment
closing date.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gilbert Tran, Office of Federal
Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget, (202) 395-3052.
The proposed revisions to the Information Collection Form, Form SF-SAC
can be obtained by contacting the Office of Federal Financial
Management as indicated above or by download from the OMB Grants
Management home page on the Internet at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_forms/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control No.: 0348-0057.
Title: Data Collection Form.
Form No: SF-SAC.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection
Respondents: States, local governments, Indian tribes, institutions
of higher education (IHE), or nonprofit organizations (Non-Federal
entities) and their auditors.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 72,600 (36,300 from auditors and
36,300 from auditees). Raising the threshold to $750,000 is estimated
to lower the number of respondents by 13,400 (6,700 from auditors and
6,700 from auditees). The respondents' information is collected by the
Federal Audit Clearinghouse (maintained by the U.S. Bureau of the
Census).
Estimated Time per Respondent: 100 hours for each of 400 large
respondents and 30 hours for each of 72,200 small respondents for
estimated annual burden hours of 2,206,000.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: One response for each
auditee and one response by the auditor for each single audit they
perform.
Frequency of Response: Annually.
Needs and Uses: Reports from auditors to auditees and reports from
auditees to the Federal government are used by non-Federal entities,
pass-through entities and Federal agencies to ensure that Federal
awards are expended in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
The Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) (maintained by the U.S. Bureau of
the Census) uses the information on the SF-SAC to ensure proper
distribution of audit reports to Federal agencies and identify non-
Federal entities who have not filed the required reports. The FAC also
uses the information on the SF-SAC to create a government-wide
database, which contains information on audit results. This database is
publicly accessible on the Internet at https://harvester.census.gov/facdissem/main.aspx. The Uniform Guidance indicates that the FAC is
authorized to make the reporting package and the Form SF-SAC publicly
available on a Web site. There is an exception for Indian Tribes and
Tribal Organizations. An auditee that is an Indian Tribe or a Tribal
Organization (as defined in the Indian Self-Determination, Education
and Assistance Act (ISDEAA), 25 U.S.C 450b(1)) may opt not to authorize
the FAC to make the reporting package publicly available on a Web site.
The data collected by the FAC is used by Federal agencies, pass-through
entities, non-Federal entities, auditors, the Government Accountability
Office, OMB and the general public for management of and information
about Federal awards and the results of audits. Comments are invited
on: (a) Whether the proposed information collection is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy
of the estimate of the burden of the collection of the information; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who respond, including through the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Mark Reger,
Deputy Controller.
[FR Doc. 2016-09413 Filed 4-21-16; 8:45 am]
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