A Federal Register notice published April 8, 2003 from the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM) - Notice of Proposed Requirement to Establish Standard Data Elements - proposes uniform information requirements for all federal grant applications. OFFM is seeking public comment by June 9, 2003. Their goal is to have an electronic application system operational by October 2003. OMB Watch will be filing comments based on feedback from nonprofits as part of the Streamlining Grants Management Project, a joint effort with the Urban Institute and Guide Star. You can review the proposed data elements and provide feedback through our online forum, send your comments to Kay Guinane at our Nonprofit Advocacy project, or submit your own comments. (See Federal Register notice for specific instructions.) Summary of Proposal: OFFM is proposing to use the data elements and definitions in Standard Form 424- “Application for Federal Assistance” (SF-424), which are listed in ten separate tables at the end of the Federal Register Notice. They also propose to add five additional pieces of information, including: ? Applicant’s Universal Idenifying Number (See OMB Watch Comments on OMB’s proposal to use the Dun and Bradstreet DUNS number for this purpose; ? E Mail address; ? Country location; ? Fax number, and ? Type of Applicant (i.e. local government, nonprofit, university, etc.) In addition, the notice proposes consolidation of “Assurance of Compliance” forms, where applicants can certify that they have reviewed policy requirements (such as civil rights and environmental protection goals) and administrative requirements (such as audits) in the grant application. Agencies' grant announcements will list all required assurances, and if the grant application is approved, the group would receive another notice of these requirements. This gives potential applicants the opportunity to review these requirements in one place prior to making a decision to apply for the grant. Questions and comments from the nonprofit community are being sought, with the notice specifically asking the following questions: “We welcome your input on any aspect of the data elements and inclusion of the consolidated assurance in place of those found on the SF-424B and SF-424D. Questions that you may wish to address include: ? Are the proposed data elements found on the current SF-424 the essential ones needed to apply for Federal grants? If you recommend adding or deleting any data elements, please explain why. ? Are the current definitions found on the SF-424 clear and explicitly define what is required for applicants to enter on the SF-424, ``Application for Federal Assistance?'' ? Are the names of data elements and any terms used in describing them readily understandable? Are the terms generic enough to cover all programs and agencies in which you might have an interest? Do you have suggestions for alternate terms? ? Is the current SF-424, plus the five additional proposed data elements and assurance language, sufficient enough to establish the SF-424 as the data standard? If comments indicate a more in-depth change to the SF-424, should OMB establish this as the data standard and then proceed with a more complete revision at a later date? ? Is the assurance language feasible for use by Federal agencies in lieu of those found on the SF-424B and SF-424D?”