New Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment Policy for Recipients of NASA Financial Assistance Awards, 12423-12425 [2023-03909]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 38 / Monday, February 27, 2023 / Notices
U.S. International Trade Commission,
shall designate the presiding
Administrative Law Judge.
Responses to the complaint and the
notice of investigation must be
submitted by the named respondents in
accordance with section 210.13 of the
Commission’s Rules of Practice and
Procedure, 19 CFR 210.13. Pursuant to
19 CFR 201.16(e) and 210.13(a), as
amended in 85 FR 15798 (March 19,
2020), such responses will be
considered by the Commission if
received not later than 20 days after the
date of service by the complainants of
the complaint and the notice of
investigation. Extensions of time for
submitting responses to the complaint
and the notice of investigation will not
be granted unless good cause therefor is
shown.
Failure of a respondent to file a timely
response to each allegation in the
complaint and in this notice may be
deemed to constitute a waiver of the
right to appear and contest the
allegations of the complaint and this
notice, and to authorize the
administrative law judge and the
Commission, without further notice to
the respondent, to find the facts to be as
alleged in the complaint and this notice
and to enter an initial determination
and a final determination containing
such findings, and may result in the
issuance of an exclusion order or a cease
and desist order or both directed against
the respondent.
By order of the Commission.
Issued: February 21, 2023.
Lisa Barton,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2023–03904 Filed 2–24–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7020–02–P
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND
BUDGET
Discount Rates for Cost-Effectiveness
Analysis of Federal Programs
Office of Management and
Budget.
ACTION: Revisions to Appendix C of
OMB Circular No. A–94.
AGENCY:
The Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) revised Circular No.
A–94 in 1992. With that action, OMB
specified certain discount rates to be
updated annually when the interest rate
and inflation assumptions used to
prepare the Budget of the United States
Government were changed. These
updated discount rates are found in
Appendix C of the Circular and are to
be used for cost-effectiveness analysis,
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:06 Feb 24, 2023
Jkt 259001
including lease-purchase analysis, as
specified in the revised Circular. These
rates do not apply to regulatory analysis.
The revised Circular can be accessed
at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2023/02/AppendixC.pdf.
The revised discount rates will
be in effect through December 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jamie Taber, Office of Economic Policy,
Office of Management and Budget, 202–
395–2515, a94@omb.eop.gov.
DATES:
Zachary Liscow,
Associate Director for Economic Policy, Office
of Management and Budget.
[FR Doc. 2023–03920 Filed 2–24–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110–01–P
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[Notice: 23–010]
New Conflict of Interest and Conflict of
Commitment Policy for Recipients of
NASA Financial Assistance Awards
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Notice of request for public
comment; extension of comment period.
AGENCY:
To address undue foreign
influence in NASA-supported research
and ensure responsible stewardship of
taxpayer dollars, NASA has developed a
new conflict of interest (COI) and
conflict of commitment (COC)
disclosure policy and an associated term
and condition applicable to entities
implementing NASA financial
assistance awards that will be
implemented in NASA’s Grant and
Cooperative Agreement Manual
(GCAM). Therefore, the Agency is
soliciting public comment on this new
policy. This notice extends the public
comment due date.
DATES: The comment period for the
notice published January 30, 2023, at 88
FR 5930, is extended. Comments should
be received on or before March 31, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please address comments to
Christopher Murguia, Senior Analyst,
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration Headquarters, 300 E
Street SW, Rm. 5L32, Washington, DC
20546; telephone 202–909–5918; or
email christopher.e.murguia@nasa.gov.
We encourage respondents to submit
comments via email to ensure timely
receipt. We cannot guarantee that
mailed comments will be received
before the comment closing date. Please
include ‘‘COI/COC Policy’’ in the
subject line of email messages.
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00117
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
12423
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Christopher Murguia, email:
christopher.e.murguia@nasa.gov;
telephone 202–909–5918.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
response to U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO)
recommendations in the report GAO–
21–130, Federal Research: Agencies
Need to Enhance Policies to Address
Foreign Influence, NASA is taking steps
to address undue foreign influence in
research and ensure responsible
stewardship of taxpayer dollars. NASA
is implementing new policy that
requires financial assistance award
recipients to (1) maintain written and
enforced policies that require covered
individuals to disclose COI and COC to
the recipient entity; (2) eliminate or,
where appropriate, manage or reduce
the disclosed conflict; and (3) disclose
to NASA any conflict that cannot be
eliminated, managed, or reduced.
NASA’s policy also describes how the
Agency will address disclosures and the
enforcement actions the Agency may
take if a covered individual knowingly
fails to disclose required information.
The policy is accompanied by a term
and condition requiring award
recipients to comply with the COI and
COC disclosure requirements that will
be placed into all NASA financial
assistance awards after the policy is
implemented.
Specifically, the policy will be
implemented as a revision to the GCAM
section 3.3, Conflicts of Interest Policy,
and the term and condition will be
implemented as an addition to NASA’s
standard grant and cooperative
agreement terms and conditions
template located in the GCAM,
Appendix D, Award Terms and
Conditions. The full text of the policy
and term and condition is provided
below and the GCAM can be accessed
at https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/
files/atoms/files/grant_and_
cooperative_agreement_manual_-_oct._
2022_0.pdf.
The GCAM, section 3.3, Conflicts of
Interest Policy, will be revised in its
entirety as follows:
1. For the purposes of section 3.3, the
following definitions apply:
a. The term ‘‘conflict of interest,’’ or
‘‘COI,’’ means a situation in which an
individual, or the individual’s spouse or
dependent children, has a significant
financial interest or financial
relationship, whether with a domestic
or foreign entity, that could directly and
significantly affect the design, conduct,
reporting, or funding of research or
other award-related activities. Examples
of potential COI include, but are not
E:\FR\FM\27FEN1.SGM
27FEN1
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES
12424
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 38 / Monday, February 27, 2023 / Notices
limited to, holding an executive
position, director position, or equity
over a certain dollar amount in a
company that stands to benefit from
award-related activities, receiving
financial compensation in the form of
consulting payments or payment for
services from a company that stands to
benefit from award-related activities, or
intellectual property rights or royalties
from such rights whose value may be
affected by the outcome of awardrelated activities.
b. The term ‘‘conflict of
commitment,’’ or ‘‘COC,’’ means a nonfinancial conflict of interest in which an
individual accepts or incurs conflicting
obligations, whether domestic or
foreign, between or among multiple
employers or other entities. COC
includes conflicting commitments of
time and effort, including obligations to
dedicate time in excess of institutional
or funding agency policies or
commitments. COC also includes
obligations to improperly share
information with, or to withhold
information from, an employer or
NASA, as well as other conflicting
obligations that threaten research
security and integrity. Examples of
potential COC include, but are not
limited to, current or pending
employment; positions, appointments,
or affiliations such as titled academic,
professional, or institutional
appointments, whether remuneration is
received and whether full-time, parttime, or voluntary (including adjunct,
visiting, or honorary positions); and
participation in or applications to
foreign government-sponsored talent
recruitment or similar programs.
c. The term ‘‘covered individual’’
means an individual who (a) contributes
in a substantive, meaningful way to the
scientific development or execution of a
project proposed to be carried out with
an award from a Federal research
agency and (b) is designated as a
covered individual by the Federal
research agency concerned. NASA
designates as covered individuals any
principal investigator (PI), project
director (PD), co-principal investigator
(Co-PI), co-project director (Co-PD), and/
or any other person listed as a team
member in Section VI, Team Members,
of the Cover Page for Proposal
Submitted to the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (form
NRESS–300).
2. All NASA grant and cooperative
agreement recipients shall maintain a
written and enforced policy addressing
actual, apparent, and potential COI and
COC, both foreign and domestic. A
prime or pass-through award recipient
shall be responsible for ensuring that its
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:06 Feb 24, 2023
Jkt 259001
subrecipients, if any, follow the
requirements of this section.
a. Each recipient entity’s policy shall
designate an official(s) to solicit and
review COI and COC disclosures from
each covered individual who is
planning to participate in, or is
participating in, a NASA-funded award.
The designated official(s) shall review
all covered individuals’ disclosures;
determine whether an actual, apparent,
or potential COI or COC exists; and, if
so, determine the actions that have been
and shall be taken to eliminate or,
where appropriate, manage or reduce
the conflict. Examples of conditions or
restrictions that a recipient or
subrecipient might impose to manage,
reduce, or eliminate a conflict include,
but are not limited to:
i. Public disclosure of the COI or COC;
ii. Monitoring of research by
independent evaluators;
iii. Modification of the research plan;
iv. Change of personnel or personnel
responsibilities, or disqualification of
personnel from participation in all or a
portion of the NASA-funded activity;
v. Divestiture of significant financial
interests that create the COI or COC
(e.g., sale of an equity interest); or
vi. Severance of relationships that
create the COI or COC.
b. The entity’s policy shall ensure that
covered individuals have provided all
required disclosures to the entity at the
time a proposal is submitted to NASA.
It shall also require that covered
individuals update those disclosures on
an annual basis or as soon as any new
actual, apparent, or potential COI or
COC arises. The policy shall include
adequate enforcement mechanisms and
provide for sanctions where
appropriate.
3. Consistent with title 2 of the Code
of Federal Regulation (CFR) 200.112,
Conflict of interest, an entity applying
for or currently receiving NASA grant or
cooperative agreement funding shall
disclose to NASA in writing any actual,
apparent, or potential COI or COC if
such conflict cannot be eliminated or
appropriately managed or reduced in
accordance with the entity’s policy. In
addition, such entity shall disclose to
NASA in writing any actual, apparent,
or potential COI or COC involving any
foreign governments, their
instrumentalities, or any other entities
owned, funded, or otherwise controlled
by a foreign government, as well as any
measures the entity has taken to
eliminate or, where appropriate, manage
or reduce the COI or COC.
a. An entity currently implementing a
NASA grant or cooperative agreement
shall disclose via email the actual,
apparent, or potential conflict to the
PO 00000
Frm 00118
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
cognizant NASA Grant Officer and
Technical Officer listed on their award.
If an award recipient needs to correct
inaccurate or incomplete COI or COC
disclosures, they shall inform the
cognizant NASA Grant Officer and
Technical Officer listed on their award
via email as soon as possible.
b. An entity applying for a NASA
grant or cooperative agreement shall
clearly and explicitly disclose the
conflict in its proposal. If an applicant
needs to correct inaccurate or
incomplete COI or COC disclosures in a
submitted proposal, they shall inform
the NASA technical point of contact
listed in the relevant Notice of Funding
Opportunity via email as soon as
possible.
4. When an entity discloses to NASA
a COI or COC that cannot be eliminated,
managed, or reduced, the cognizant
Grant Officer (if the conflict pertains to
an active award) or program official (if
the conflict pertains to a proposal that
is under consideration), or one of their
delegates, will report the conflict to
OGC as follows:
a. For disclosures pertaining to active
awards, the Grant Officer will report the
conflict to the NASA Shared Services
Center’s (NSSC) Office of the General
Counsel (OGC) and copy the award’s
Technical Officer. The NSSC OGC will
then inform HQ OGC of the reported
conflict. In consultation with OGC, the
Grant Officer must assess whether the
circumstances disqualify an entity or
individual from holding the award and
adhere to the policy in paragraph (i)
below if enforcement or other actions
are necessary.
i. If a Grant Officer must take
enforcement or other actions after
conducting the review described above,
then they will do so in accordance with
the remedies for noncompliance and
termination provisions in 2 CFR 200.339
through 200.343. Remedies for
noncompliance include but are not
limited to, temporarily withholding
payment, disallowing all or part of the
cost of an award activity, wholly or
partly suspending or terminating the
award, initiating referrals for
consideration of suspension or
debarment proceedings, and
withholding further Federal awards.
ii. A Grant Officer intending to take
enforcement or other action per
paragraph (i) above will notify each
entity subject to such action about the
specific reason for the action and will
adhere to the requirements in GCAM
section 7.13, Appealing a Suspended or
Terminated Award, as necessary.
b. For disclosures pertaining to
proposals under consideration, the
program official must report the conflict
E:\FR\FM\27FEN1.SGM
27FEN1
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 38 / Monday, February 27, 2023 / Notices
to the appropriate OGC. In consultation
with OGC, the program official will
assess whether the circumstances
disqualify an entity or individual from
participating in the competition for
award and reject the proposal if
necessary.
i. A program official intending to take
enforcement action per paragraph (b)
above will notify each entity subject to
such action about the specific reason for
the action and will adhere to the
requirements in GCAM section 7.13,
Appealing a Suspended or Terminated
Award, as necessary.
c. When an entity discloses to NASA
that it has a foreign government COI or
COC, as directed above, the cognizant
Grant Officer (if the conflict pertains to
an active award) or program official (if
the conflict pertains to a proposal that
is under consideration), or one of their
delegates, must assess and determine
whether the circumstances should
disqualify the entity from continuing to
hold the award or participating in the
competition for award. This
determination is to be made by the
relevant Grant Officer or program
official in consultation with OGC and
the NASA Office of International and
Interagency Relations (OIIR), as
appropriate. If NASA determines that an
applicant or recipient will be
disqualified from participating in a
competition for award or continuing to
hold an award due to a foreign
government conflict, then NASA will
offer the applicant or recipient an
opportunity to address the conflict or
affiliation prior to removing a proposal
from consideration or taking action on
an award.
d. If fraud, misrepresentation, or
related misconduct is suspected in
relation to any disclosure submitted to
NASA, then the Grant Officer or
program official also will refer the
matter to the NASA Office of Inspector
General (OIG) and the OGC Acquisition
Integrity Program.
5. Enforcement.
a. If a covered individual knowingly
fails to disclose required information,
NASA may take one or more of the
following enforcement or other actions:
i. Reject a proposal,
ii. Suspend or terminate an award,
iii. Temporarily or permanently
discontinue any or all funding for the
covered individual or entity,
iv. Refer recipients for consideration
of suspension or debarment
proceedings;
v. Refer the failure to disclose to the
NASA OIG for further investigation or to
Federal law enforcement authorities to
determine whether any criminal or civil
laws were violated;
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:06 Feb 24, 2023
Jkt 259001
vi. Report the entity in the Contractor
Performance Assessment Reporting
System (CPARS) to alert other Federal
agencies to the noncompliance;
vii. Take one or more of the actions
described in 2 CFR 200.339, Remedies
for noncompliance; or
viii. Take such other actions against
the covered individual or entity as
authorized under applicable law or
regulations.
b. If an enforcement or other action is
necessary, NASA will adhere to the
regulations in 2 CFR 200.340,
Termination; 200.341, Notification of
termination requirement; and 200.342,
Opportunities to object, hearings, and
appeals.
The GCAM, Appendix D, Award
Terms and Conditions, will be revised
to include the following:
D39. Disclosure Requirements
(a) All NASA grant and cooperative
agreement recipients shall comply with
the conflict of interest and conflict of
commitment disclosure requirements in
section 3.3, Conflicts of Interest Policy,
of the NASA Grant and Cooperative
Agreement Manual (GCAM).
Nanette Smith,
Team Lead, NASA Directives and
Regulations.
[FR Doc. 2023–03909 Filed 2–24–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7510–13–P
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS
ADMINISTRATION
[NARA–23–0003; NARA–2023–020]
Records Schedules; Availability and
Request for Comments
National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA).
ACTION: Notice of availability of
proposed records schedules; request for
comments.
AGENCY:
The National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA)
publishes notice of certain Federal
agency requests for records disposition
authority (records schedules). We
publish notice in the Federal Register
and on regulations.gov for records
schedules in which agencies propose to
dispose of records they no longer need
to conduct agency business. We invite
public comments on such records
schedules.
SUMMARY:
We must receive responses on
the schedules listed in this notice by
April 14, 2023.
ADDRESSES: To view a records schedule
in this notice, or submit a comment on
DATES:
PO 00000
Frm 00119
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
12425
one, use the following address: https://
www.regulations.gov/docket/NARA23=0003/document. This is a direct link
to the schedules posted in the docket for
this notice on regulations.gov. You may
submit comments by the following
method:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal:
https://www.regulations.gov. On the
website, enter either of the numbers
cited at the top of this notice into the
search field. This will bring you to the
docket for this notice, in which we have
posted the records schedules open for
comment. Each schedule has a
‘comment’ button so you can comment
on that specific schedule. For more
information on regulations.gov and on
submitting comments, see their FAQs at
https://www.regulations.gov/faq.
If you are unable to comment via
regulations.gov, you may email us at
request.schedule@nara.gov for
instructions on submitting your
comment. You must cite the control
number of the schedule you wish to
comment on. You can find the control
number for each schedule in
parentheses at the end of each
schedule’s entry in the list at the end of
this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kimberly Richardson, Strategy and
Performance Division, by email at
regulation_comments@nara.gov or at
301–837–2902. For information about
records schedules, contact Records
Management Operations by email at
request.schedule@nara.gov or by phone
at 301–837–1799.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Comment Procedures
We are publishing notice of records
schedules in which agencies propose to
dispose of records they no longer need
to conduct agency business. We invite
public comments on these records
schedules, as required by 44 U.S.C.
3303a(a), and list the schedules at the
end of this notice by agency and
subdivision requesting disposition
authority.
In addition, this notice lists the
organizational unit(s) accumulating the
records or states that the schedule has
agency-wide applicability. It also
provides the control number assigned to
each schedule, which you will need if
you submit comments on that schedule.
We have uploaded the records
schedules and accompanying appraisal
memoranda to the regulations.gov
docket for this notice as ‘‘other’’
documents. Each records schedule
contains a full description of the records
at the file unit level as well as their
proposed disposition. The appraisal
E:\FR\FM\27FEN1.SGM
27FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12423-12425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03909]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[Notice: 23-010]
New Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment Policy for
Recipients of NASA Financial Assistance Awards
AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Notice of request for public comment; extension of comment
period.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: To address undue foreign influence in NASA-supported research
and ensure responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars, NASA has
developed a new conflict of interest (COI) and conflict of commitment
(COC) disclosure policy and an associated term and condition applicable
to entities implementing NASA financial assistance awards that will be
implemented in NASA's Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM).
Therefore, the Agency is soliciting public comment on this new policy.
This notice extends the public comment due date.
DATES: The comment period for the notice published January 30, 2023, at
88 FR 5930, is extended. Comments should be received on or before March
31, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please address comments to Christopher Murguia, Senior
Analyst, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters,
300 E Street SW, Rm. 5L32, Washington, DC 20546; telephone 202-909-
5918; or email [email protected]. We encourage respondents
to submit comments via email to ensure timely receipt. We cannot
guarantee that mailed comments will be received before the comment
closing date. Please include ``COI/COC Policy'' in the subject line of
email messages.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Murguia, email:
[email protected]; telephone 202-909-5918.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO) recommendations in the report GAO-21-130,
Federal Research: Agencies Need to Enhance Policies to Address Foreign
Influence, NASA is taking steps to address undue foreign influence in
research and ensure responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars. NASA
is implementing new policy that requires financial assistance award
recipients to (1) maintain written and enforced policies that require
covered individuals to disclose COI and COC to the recipient entity;
(2) eliminate or, where appropriate, manage or reduce the disclosed
conflict; and (3) disclose to NASA any conflict that cannot be
eliminated, managed, or reduced. NASA's policy also describes how the
Agency will address disclosures and the enforcement actions the Agency
may take if a covered individual knowingly fails to disclose required
information. The policy is accompanied by a term and condition
requiring award recipients to comply with the COI and COC disclosure
requirements that will be placed into all NASA financial assistance
awards after the policy is implemented.
Specifically, the policy will be implemented as a revision to the
GCAM section 3.3, Conflicts of Interest Policy, and the term and
condition will be implemented as an addition to NASA's standard grant
and cooperative agreement terms and conditions template located in the
GCAM, Appendix D, Award Terms and Conditions. The full text of the
policy and term and condition is provided below and the GCAM can be
accessed at https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/grant_and_cooperative_agreement_manual_-_oct._2022_0.pdf.
The GCAM, section 3.3, Conflicts of Interest Policy, will be
revised in its entirety as follows:
1. For the purposes of section 3.3, the following definitions
apply:
a. The term ``conflict of interest,'' or ``COI,'' means a situation
in which an individual, or the individual's spouse or dependent
children, has a significant financial interest or financial
relationship, whether with a domestic or foreign entity, that could
directly and significantly affect the design, conduct, reporting, or
funding of research or other award-related activities. Examples of
potential COI include, but are not
[[Page 12424]]
limited to, holding an executive position, director position, or equity
over a certain dollar amount in a company that stands to benefit from
award-related activities, receiving financial compensation in the form
of consulting payments or payment for services from a company that
stands to benefit from award-related activities, or intellectual
property rights or royalties from such rights whose value may be
affected by the outcome of award-related activities.
b. The term ``conflict of commitment,'' or ``COC,'' means a non-
financial conflict of interest in which an individual accepts or incurs
conflicting obligations, whether domestic or foreign, between or among
multiple employers or other entities. COC includes conflicting
commitments of time and effort, including obligations to dedicate time
in excess of institutional or funding agency policies or commitments.
COC also includes obligations to improperly share information with, or
to withhold information from, an employer or NASA, as well as other
conflicting obligations that threaten research security and integrity.
Examples of potential COC include, but are not limited to, current or
pending employment; positions, appointments, or affiliations such as
titled academic, professional, or institutional appointments, whether
remuneration is received and whether full-time, part-time, or voluntary
(including adjunct, visiting, or honorary positions); and participation
in or applications to foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment
or similar programs.
c. The term ``covered individual'' means an individual who (a)
contributes in a substantive, meaningful way to the scientific
development or execution of a project proposed to be carried out with
an award from a Federal research agency and (b) is designated as a
covered individual by the Federal research agency concerned. NASA
designates as covered individuals any principal investigator (PI),
project director (PD), co-principal investigator (Co-PI), co-project
director (Co-PD), and/or any other person listed as a team member in
Section VI, Team Members, of the Cover Page for Proposal Submitted to
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (form NRESS-300).
2. All NASA grant and cooperative agreement recipients shall
maintain a written and enforced policy addressing actual, apparent, and
potential COI and COC, both foreign and domestic. A prime or pass-
through award recipient shall be responsible for ensuring that its
subrecipients, if any, follow the requirements of this section.
a. Each recipient entity's policy shall designate an official(s) to
solicit and review COI and COC disclosures from each covered individual
who is planning to participate in, or is participating in, a NASA-
funded award. The designated official(s) shall review all covered
individuals' disclosures; determine whether an actual, apparent, or
potential COI or COC exists; and, if so, determine the actions that
have been and shall be taken to eliminate or, where appropriate, manage
or reduce the conflict. Examples of conditions or restrictions that a
recipient or subrecipient might impose to manage, reduce, or eliminate
a conflict include, but are not limited to:
i. Public disclosure of the COI or COC;
ii. Monitoring of research by independent evaluators;
iii. Modification of the research plan;
iv. Change of personnel or personnel responsibilities, or
disqualification of personnel from participation in all or a portion of
the NASA-funded activity;
v. Divestiture of significant financial interests that create the
COI or COC (e.g., sale of an equity interest); or
vi. Severance of relationships that create the COI or COC.
b. The entity's policy shall ensure that covered individuals have
provided all required disclosures to the entity at the time a proposal
is submitted to NASA. It shall also require that covered individuals
update those disclosures on an annual basis or as soon as any new
actual, apparent, or potential COI or COC arises. The policy shall
include adequate enforcement mechanisms and provide for sanctions where
appropriate.
3. Consistent with title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR)
200.112, Conflict of interest, an entity applying for or currently
receiving NASA grant or cooperative agreement funding shall disclose to
NASA in writing any actual, apparent, or potential COI or COC if such
conflict cannot be eliminated or appropriately managed or reduced in
accordance with the entity's policy. In addition, such entity shall
disclose to NASA in writing any actual, apparent, or potential COI or
COC involving any foreign governments, their instrumentalities, or any
other entities owned, funded, or otherwise controlled by a foreign
government, as well as any measures the entity has taken to eliminate
or, where appropriate, manage or reduce the COI or COC.
a. An entity currently implementing a NASA grant or cooperative
agreement shall disclose via email the actual, apparent, or potential
conflict to the cognizant NASA Grant Officer and Technical Officer
listed on their award. If an award recipient needs to correct
inaccurate or incomplete COI or COC disclosures, they shall inform the
cognizant NASA Grant Officer and Technical Officer listed on their
award via email as soon as possible.
b. An entity applying for a NASA grant or cooperative agreement
shall clearly and explicitly disclose the conflict in its proposal. If
an applicant needs to correct inaccurate or incomplete COI or COC
disclosures in a submitted proposal, they shall inform the NASA
technical point of contact listed in the relevant Notice of Funding
Opportunity via email as soon as possible.
4. When an entity discloses to NASA a COI or COC that cannot be
eliminated, managed, or reduced, the cognizant Grant Officer (if the
conflict pertains to an active award) or program official (if the
conflict pertains to a proposal that is under consideration), or one of
their delegates, will report the conflict to OGC as follows:
a. For disclosures pertaining to active awards, the Grant Officer
will report the conflict to the NASA Shared Services Center's (NSSC)
Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and copy the award's Technical
Officer. The NSSC OGC will then inform HQ OGC of the reported conflict.
In consultation with OGC, the Grant Officer must assess whether the
circumstances disqualify an entity or individual from holding the award
and adhere to the policy in paragraph (i) below if enforcement or other
actions are necessary.
i. If a Grant Officer must take enforcement or other actions after
conducting the review described above, then they will do so in
accordance with the remedies for noncompliance and termination
provisions in 2 CFR 200.339 through 200.343. Remedies for noncompliance
include but are not limited to, temporarily withholding payment,
disallowing all or part of the cost of an award activity, wholly or
partly suspending or terminating the award, initiating referrals for
consideration of suspension or debarment proceedings, and withholding
further Federal awards.
ii. A Grant Officer intending to take enforcement or other action
per paragraph (i) above will notify each entity subject to such action
about the specific reason for the action and will adhere to the
requirements in GCAM section 7.13, Appealing a Suspended or Terminated
Award, as necessary.
b. For disclosures pertaining to proposals under consideration, the
program official must report the conflict
[[Page 12425]]
to the appropriate OGC. In consultation with OGC, the program official
will assess whether the circumstances disqualify an entity or
individual from participating in the competition for award and reject
the proposal if necessary.
i. A program official intending to take enforcement action per
paragraph (b) above will notify each entity subject to such action
about the specific reason for the action and will adhere to the
requirements in GCAM section 7.13, Appealing a Suspended or Terminated
Award, as necessary.
c. When an entity discloses to NASA that it has a foreign
government COI or COC, as directed above, the cognizant Grant Officer
(if the conflict pertains to an active award) or program official (if
the conflict pertains to a proposal that is under consideration), or
one of their delegates, must assess and determine whether the
circumstances should disqualify the entity from continuing to hold the
award or participating in the competition for award. This determination
is to be made by the relevant Grant Officer or program official in
consultation with OGC and the NASA Office of International and
Interagency Relations (OIIR), as appropriate. If NASA determines that
an applicant or recipient will be disqualified from participating in a
competition for award or continuing to hold an award due to a foreign
government conflict, then NASA will offer the applicant or recipient an
opportunity to address the conflict or affiliation prior to removing a
proposal from consideration or taking action on an award.
d. If fraud, misrepresentation, or related misconduct is suspected
in relation to any disclosure submitted to NASA, then the Grant Officer
or program official also will refer the matter to the NASA Office of
Inspector General (OIG) and the OGC Acquisition Integrity Program.
5. Enforcement.
a. If a covered individual knowingly fails to disclose required
information, NASA may take one or more of the following enforcement or
other actions:
i. Reject a proposal,
ii. Suspend or terminate an award,
iii. Temporarily or permanently discontinue any or all funding for
the covered individual or entity,
iv. Refer recipients for consideration of suspension or debarment
proceedings;
v. Refer the failure to disclose to the NASA OIG for further
investigation or to Federal law enforcement authorities to determine
whether any criminal or civil laws were violated;
vi. Report the entity in the Contractor Performance Assessment
Reporting System (CPARS) to alert other Federal agencies to the
noncompliance;
vii. Take one or more of the actions described in 2 CFR 200.339,
Remedies for noncompliance; or
viii. Take such other actions against the covered individual or
entity as authorized under applicable law or regulations.
b. If an enforcement or other action is necessary, NASA will adhere
to the regulations in 2 CFR 200.340, Termination; 200.341, Notification
of termination requirement; and 200.342, Opportunities to object,
hearings, and appeals.
The GCAM, Appendix D, Award Terms and Conditions, will be revised
to include the following:
D39. Disclosure Requirements
(a) All NASA grant and cooperative agreement recipients shall
comply with the conflict of interest and conflict of commitment
disclosure requirements in section 3.3, Conflicts of Interest Policy,
of the NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM).
Nanette Smith,
Team Lead, NASA Directives and Regulations.
[FR Doc. 2023-03909 Filed 2-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7510-13-P
