Notice2021-19875
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Data Collection Form for Reporting on Audits of States, Local Governments, Indian Tribes, Institutions of Higher Education, and Nonprofit Organizations
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 15, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentCensus Bureau
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 176 (Wednesday, September 15, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51340-51341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19875]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Data Collection Form for Reporting on Audits of States, Local
Governments, Indian Tribes, Institutions of Higher Education, and
Nonprofit Organizations
The Department of Commerce will submit the following information
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the
Federal Register on April 22, 2021, during a 60-day comment period.
This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Commerce.
Title: Data Collection Form for Reporting on Audits of States,
Local Governments, Indian Tribes, Institutions of Higher Education, and
Nonprofit Organizations.
OMB Control Number: 0607-0518.
Form Number(s): SF-SAC.
Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for an Extension,
without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection.
Number of Respondents: 80,000 (40,000 auditees and 40,000
auditors).
Average Hours per Response: 100 hours for large auditees (approx.
400 respondents) and 21 hours for all other auditees (approx. 79,600
respondents).
Burden Hours: 1,711,600.
Needs and Uses: Each year, more than $700 billion in federal
assistance awards are expended by more than 100,000 non-federal
entities (states, local governments, Indian tribes and tribal
organizations, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit
organizations) throughout the country. To improve business-like
practices and provide greater accountability over federal awards, the
Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-156) and the Uniform
Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements
for Federal Awards (2 CFR part 200, or Uniform Guidance) imposed
certain audit reporting and recordkeeping requirements on non-federal
entities/auditees that expend $750,000 or more in federal awards per
year, as well as on their auditors.
Non-federal entities are required by the Single Audit Act
Amendments of 1996 and Uniform Guidance to have audits conducted of
their federal awards and file the resulting reporting packages (Single
Audit reports) and data collection forms (Form SF-SAC) with the Federal
Audit Clearinghouse (FAC). The Form SF-SAC is Appendix X to 2 CFR part
200. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has designated the
Census Bureau as the FAC to serve as the government-wide repository of
record for Single Audit reports.
The Single Audit process is a primary method used by federal
agencies and pass-through entities to provide oversight of federal
awards and reduce risk of non-compliance and improper payments. This
includes following up on audit findings and questioned costs.
Entities meeting the dollar threshold defined in OMB Uniform
Guidance must submit the Form SF-SAC and their Single Audit reporting
package to the FAC. The entity must complete the Single Audit
submission every fiscal period they meet the reporting dollar
threshold.
The information collection provides data about auditees, the
federal awards they expend, and the results of their audits. This
information is used by entities responsible for overseeing the funding
and administration of Federal awards (e.g., Congress, Federal agencies,
[[Page 51341]]
and pass-through entities) and entities responsible for administering
Federal awards (e.g., state governing officials, county and city
councils, board of directors of nonprofit organizations, and senior
management of various auditees). The information is used in making
decisions about which federal awards and recipients to fund in the
future, identifying and resolving areas of noncompliance, and improving
the administration and delivery of federal awards.
Federal agencies, non-federal entities, and pass-through entities
use submitted Forms SF-SAC and Single Audit reporting packages to
ensure federal awards are expended in accordance with applicable laws
and regulations. The FAC uses the information on the Form 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 Form SF-SAC to create a
government-wide database, which contains information on audit results.
This database is publicly accessible online at <a href="https://facdissem.census.gov">https://facdissem.census.gov</a>.
The Uniform Guidance indicates that the FAC is authorized to make
the reporting package and the Form SF-SAC publicly available on a
website. There is an exception for Indian Tribes and Tribal
Organizations (2 CFR 200.512(b)(2)). An auditee that is an Indian Tribe
(as defined in the Indian Self-Determination, Education and Assistance
Act (ISDEAA), 25 U.S.C 5304) may opt not to authorize the FAC to make
the reporting package publicly available on a website. For these
exempted auditees, the text of the audit findings, the text of the
corrective action plan, and the text portions collected as part of the
Notes to the SEFA (all 3 are included in the reporting package) will
not be publicly released on the Form SF-SAC.
The data collected by the FAC is used by federal agencies, pass-
through entities, non-federal entities, auditors, the Government
Accountability Office (GAO), OMB and the general public for information
about and management of federal awards and the results of audits.
This information is essential in developing effective government-
wide audit policies overseeing federal awards. The Single Audit Act
Amendments of 1996 require OMB to perform a biennial review of the
threshold that triggers an audit requirement, prescribe a risk-based
approach to auditing major programs, and provide guidance on other
matters necessary to implement the Single Audit Act. OMB cannot perform
its duties required by the Single Audit Act Amendments or develop audit
policies without the information provided under this data collection.
This information is exclusively collected via FAC's web-based
application, which is designed to assist the respondent in completing
the data collection form. Uniform Guidance requires auditees to submit
their information to the FAC nine months after their fiscal period has
ended or 30 days after receipt of their audit report--whichever comes
first. This is an ongoing collection process and there have been no
changes to the collection requirements since the last approval.
Affected Public: States, local governments, Indian tribes,
institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations (Non-Federal
entities) and their auditors.
Frequency: Annually.
Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
Legal Authority: Title 31 U.S.C. Section 7501 et. seq. and 2 CFR
part 200.
This information collection request may be viewed at
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov">www.reginfo.gov</a>. Follow the instructions to view the Department of
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website `. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function and entering
either the title of the collection or the OMB Control Number 0607-0518.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-19875 Filed 9-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P
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