RFAM 03-03, Attachment 1, attachment
United States
Department of the Interior
Federal Grants and Cooperative Agreements Policy
Subject:
Requirement for a DUNS Number in Applications for Federal Grants and Cooperative Agreements
1. PURPOSE:
The purpose of this policy issuance is to implement Governmentwide policy, as published in the Friday, June 27, 2003 issue of the Federal Register [68 FR 38402] copy attached), which requires that prospective financial assistance applicants apply for, and include a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number on their applications for Federal grants and cooperative agreements.
2. AUTHORITY:
This policy is part of the implementation of the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-107). The policy is also designed to further implement the Grants.gov initiative, one of the 24 electronic government (E-Gov) initiatives under the President's Management Agenda. It is also based upon the Controller, Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) June 23, 2003 memorandum to the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies regarding the requirement for a DUNS number in applications for Federal grants and cooperative agreements.
3. EFFECTIVE DATE: The preliminary outreach, announcement amendment, and systems/application/ plan preparation portions of this policy are effective upon issuance. However, every application for a new award or renewal of an award, including applications or plans under mandatory grant programs, submitted on or after October 1, 2003, must include a DUNS number for the applicant. Unless an exemption is granted, an application will not be considered complete until a valid DUNS number is provided by the applicant.
4. EXPIRATION DATE: This policy issuance will remain effective until canceled, superseded, or incorporated into Title 43 Code of Federal Regulations.
5. RESPONSIBILITIES/ACTION REQUIRED: Bureau/Office Directors are responsible for coordinating data collection and reporting for all financial assistance programs (i.e., grants and cooperative agreements) within their bureaus. They are responsible for ensuring that:
A. This policy is distributed to all of their bureau/office's grant-making programs;
B. Appropriate outreach and notification regarding the new data collection requirement is provided to prospective financial assistance applicants prior to, and following the October 1, 2003 effective date. Bureaus should include this policy on their web sites, as appropriate. Although applicants are not required to use DUNS numbers on their applications with due dates prior to October 1, 2003, they must be encouraged to obtain them if they plan to submit an application to any Federal agency on or after October 1, 2003.
C. Any grants/cooperative agreement announcements or other funding notifications that have been issued having acceptance dates on or after October 1, 2003 are amended to inform potential applicants of the DUNS requirement.
D. Grant and cooperative agreement applications and plans are revised to include a DUNS number data element. (OMB approval is not required to add a DUNS number field to previously approved forms);
E. Bureau/Office grant and cooperative agreement-related processing systems, and other systems as appropriate, are able to accept the DUNS number.
6. APPLICABILITY: This policy applies to all types of entities applying for Federal grants or cooperative agreements under discretionary and mandatory programs or activities except:
A. Individuals who would personally receive a grant or cooperative agreement
award from the Federal government apart from any business or non-profit
organization they may operate.
B. Any applicant that receives an exemption, or an applicant under a program
that receives an exemption (see "Exemptions" section 9, below).
For purposes of this policy, the applicant is the entity that meets the agency's or program's eligibility criteria and has the legal authority to apply for a grant or cooperative agreement.
In cases where a consortium or group of separate entities is formed to apply for a grant or cooperative agreement, the consortium must obtain and use a DUNS number for the consortium in its application.
At this time, applicants are not required to submit DUNS numbers for entities with which they may enter into subawards.
7. BACKGROUND: The Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999, Public Law (P.L.) 106-107, requires executive agencies to work together to establish processes to streamline and simplify Federal financial assistance procedures for non-Federal entities. As part of its Governmentwide financial assistance streamlining/simplification effort, P.L. 106-107 also requires agencies to allow prospective financial assistance applicants to electronically apply for, and report on the use of, funds from the grants and cooperative agreements programs administered by the agencies.
Under the E-Grants.gov initiative, Federal agencies are in the process of developing an electronic grant application system using standard core data elements. The DUNS number is one of those data elements. It will be used to link to fixed applicant data, such as name and address fields, maintained in a central Federal registration repository. This will allow the data to automatically populate corresponding fields in the electronic application. As a result, applicants will not have to re-enter this information on each electronic application they submit. The DUNS number requirement is also applicable to paper applications because of planned reporting requirements.
Long and successfully used in the Federal contracting arena, the DUNS number is a unique nine-character identification number provided by the commercial company Dun & Bradstreet. Requesting a DUNS number takes about 10 minutes for prospective grant/cooperative agreement applicants, and is free of charge. Prospective applicants may obtain a DUNS number by calling 1-800-333-0505 or accessing: www.dunandbradstreet.com (click on D&B DUNS Number).
The DUNS number does not replace existing numbers, such as the Employer Identification Number (EIN), the Tax Indentification Number (TIN), and State Application Identifier (SAI) numbers that are required by statute, Executive Order, or regulation.
8. POLICY: Every application for a new grant or cooperative agreement award or renewal of an award, including applications or plans under mandatory grant programs, submitted on or after October 1, 2003, must include a DUNS number for the applicant. Unless an exemption is granted, an application will not be considered complete until a valid DUNS number is provided by the applicant.
The DUNS number requirement must be included in all grants/cooperative agreements funding opportunity announcements issued on or after the effective date of this policy with application due dates or acceptance dates on or after October 1, 2003.
Any grants/cooperative agreement announcements or other funding notifications that have been issued having acceptance dates on or after October 1, 2003 must be amended to inform potential applicants of the DUNS requirement.
9. EXEMPTIONS: Only OMB is authorized to grant exemptions from this policy.
Individual or class requests for exemptions from this policy must be forwarded by the Bureau/Office Director or his/her designee to the Director, Office of Acquisition and Property Management, for submission to OMB. Requests for exemptions must include the following information
" The specific reasons why the exemption is needed and citing any historical information available to support those reasons.
" The specific impact on the bureau/office or the grant/cooperative agreement program and its applicants if the request for exemption is denied. Provide examples of impacts, e.g., expected time delays in processing actions, and the effect on performance (time and/or dollar amount). Include any other negative impact anticipated.
" When requested on a class basis, document the total number of applicants affected.
10. INFORMATION POINTS OF CONTACT: Please direct any requests for exemption or questions regarding this policy to Debra Sonderman, Director, Office of Acquisition and Property Management, on 202-208-6352. Staff questions should be directed to Tammy Pataluna on 202-208-4080 or Patricia Corrigan on 202-208-1906.
Issue Date: August 15, 2003
Attachment