Public Law 113-101 — 128 Stat. 1146 — Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (May 9, 2014)
Summary
Public Law 113–101, the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 or “DATA Act” (S. 994, 128 Stat. 1146), approved May 9, 2014, amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. Its stated purposes are to disclose direct Federal agency expenditures and link contract, loan and grant spending to agency programs, to set Government-wide data standards for financial data displayed on USASpending.gov, to simplify reporting for entities receiving Federal funds, to hold agencies accountable for the completeness and accuracy of the data, and to apply approaches developed by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board across the Federal Government. The Act has the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget establish the data standards. Its legislative history lists Senate passage on Apr. 10 and House passage on Apr. 28.
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PUBLIC LAW 113–101—MAY 9, 2014
DIGITAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND
TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2014
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128 STAT. 1146 PUBLIC LAW 113–101—MAY 9, 2014
Public Law 113–101
113th Congress
An Act
To expand the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to
May 9, 2014 increase accountability and transparency in Federal spending, and for other pur-
[S. 994] poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
Digital the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Accountability
and SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
Transparency Act
of 2014. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Digital Accountability and Trans-
31 USC 6101 parency Act of 2014’’ or the ‘‘DATA Act’’.
note.
31 USC 6101 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
note.
The purposes of this Act are to—
(1) expand the Federal Funding Accountability and Trans-
parency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) by disclosing direct
Federal agency expenditures and linking Federal contract, loan,
and grant spending information to programs of Federal agencies
to enable taxpayers and policy makers to track Federal
spending more effectively;
(2) establish Government-wide data standards for financial
data and provide consistent, reliable, and searchable Govern-
ment-wide spending data that is displayed accurately for tax-
payers and policy makers on USASpending.gov (or a successor
system that displays the data);
(3) simplify reporting for entities receiving Federal funds
by streamlining reporting requirements and reducing compli-
ance costs while improving transparency;
(4) improve the quality of data submitted to
USASpending.gov by holding Federal agencies accountable for
the completeness and accuracy of the data submitted; and
(5) apply approaches developed by the Recovery Account-
ability and Transparency Board to spending across the Federal
Government.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL FUNDING ACCOUNTABILITY
AND TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2006.
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of
2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended—
31 USC 6101 (1) in section 2—
note. (A) in subsection (a)—
Definitions. (i) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by
striking ‘‘this section’’ and inserting ‘‘this Act’’;
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(ii) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3)
as paragraphs (2), (4), and (7), respectively;
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PUBLIC LAW 113–101—MAY 9, 2014 128 STAT. 1147
(iii) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so
redesignated, the following:
‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget.’’;
(iv) by inserting after paragraph (2), as so redesig-
nated, the following:
‘‘(3) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘Federal agency’ has the
meaning given the term ‘Executive agency’ under section 105
of title 5, United States Code.’’;
(v) by inserting after paragraph (4), as so redesig-
nated, the following:
‘‘(5) OBJECT CLASS.—The term ‘object class’ means the cat-
egory assigned for purposes of the annual budget of the Presi-
dent submitted under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States
Code, to the type of property or services purchased by the
Federal Government.
‘‘(6) PROGRAM ACTIVITY.—The term ‘program activity’ has
the meaning given that term under section 1115(h) of title
31, United States Code.’’; and
(vi) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary
of the Treasury.’’;
(B) in subsection (b)—
(i) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘of the Office of
Management and Budget’’; and
(ii) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘of the Office
of Management and Budget’’;
(C) in subsection (c)—
(i) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;
(ii) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at
the end and inserting a semicolon; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(6) shall have the ability to aggregate data for the cat-
egories described in paragraphs (1) through (5) without double-
counting data; and
‘‘(7) shall ensure that all information published under this
section is available—
‘‘(A) in machine-readable and open formats;
‘‘(B) to be downloaded in bulk; and
‘‘(C) to the extent practicable, for automated proc-
essing.’’;
(D) in subsection (d)—
(i) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘of the Office
of Management and Budget’’;
(ii) in paragraph (2)—
(I) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘of the
Office of Management and Budget’’; and
(II) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘of the
Office of Management and Budget’’;
(E) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘of the Office of
Management and Budget’’; and
(F) in subsection (g)—
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘of the Office of
Management and Budget’’; and
(ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘of the Office
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of Management and Budget’’; and
(2) by striking sections 3 and 4 and inserting the following:
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128 STAT. 1148 PUBLIC LAW 113–101—MAY 9, 2014
‘‘SEC. 3. FULL DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.
Deadlines. ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the date of
Consultation. enactment of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of
Web posting.
2014, and monthly when practicable but not less than quarterly
thereafter, the Secretary, in consultation with the Director, shall
ensure that the information in subsection (b) is posted on the
website established under section 2.
‘‘(b) INFORMATION TO BE POSTED.—For any funds made avail-
able to or expended by a Federal agency or component of a Federal
agency, the information to be posted shall include—
‘‘(1) for each appropriations account, including an expired
or unexpired appropriations account, the amount—
‘‘(A) of budget authority appropriated;
‘‘(B) that is obligated;
‘‘(C) of unobligated balances; and
‘‘(D) of any other budgetary resources;
‘‘(2) from which accounts and in what amount—
‘‘(A) appropriations are obligated for each program
activity; and
‘‘(B) outlays are made for each program activity;
‘‘(3) from which accounts and in what amount—
‘‘(A) appropriations are obligated for each object class;
and
‘‘(B) outlays are made for each object class; and
‘‘(4) for each program activity, the amount—
‘‘(A) obligated for each object class; and
‘‘(B) of outlays made for each object class.
‘‘SEC. 4. DATA STANDARDS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—
Consultation. ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS.—The Secretary and
the Director, in consultation with the heads of Federal agencies,
shall establish Government-wide financial data standards for
any Federal funds made available to or expended by Federal
agencies and entities receiving Federal funds.
‘‘(2) DATA ELEMENTS.—The financial data standards estab-
lished under paragraph (1) shall include common data elements
for financial and payment information required to be reported
by Federal agencies and entities receiving Federal funds.
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The data standards established under
subsection (a) shall, to the extent reasonable and practicable—
‘‘(1) incorporate widely accepted common data elements,
such as those developed and maintained by—
‘‘(A) an international voluntary consensus standards
body;
‘‘(B) Federal agencies with authority over contracting
and financial assistance; and
‘‘(C) accounting standards organizations;
‘‘(2) incorporate a widely accepted, nonproprietary, search-
able, platform-independent computer-readable format;
‘‘(3) include unique identifiers for Federal awards and enti-
ties receiving Federal awards that can be consistently applied
Government-wide;
‘‘(4) be consistent with and implement applicable
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accounting principles;
‘‘(5) be capable of being continually upgraded as necessary;
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PUBLIC LAW 113–101—MAY 9, 2014 128 STAT. 1149
‘‘(6) produce consistent and comparable data, including
across program activities; and
‘‘(7) establish a standard method of conveying the reporting
period, reporting entity, unit of measure, and other associated
attributes.
‘‘(c) DEADLINES.—
‘‘(1) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act
of 2014, the Director and the Secretary shall issue guidance
to Federal agencies on the data standards established under
subsection (a).
‘‘(2) AGENCIES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), not later than 2 years after the date on which the
guidance under paragraph (1) is issued, each Federal
agency shall report financial and payment information data
in accordance with the data standards established under
subsection (a).
‘‘(B) NONINTERFERENCE WITH AUDITABILITY OF DEPART-
MENT OF DEFENSE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Upon request by the Secretary Time period.
of Defense, the Director may grant an extension of
the deadline under subparagraph (A) to the Depart-
ment of Defense for a period of not more than 6 months
to report financial and payment information data in
accordance with the data standards established under
subsection (a).
‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The Director may not grant
more than 3 extensions to the Secretary of Defense
under clause (i).
‘‘(iii) NOTIFICATION.—The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall notify the Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and
the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
and the Committee on Armed Services of the House
of Representatives of—
‘‘(I) each grant of an extension under clause
(i); and
‘‘(II) the reasons for granting such an exten-
sion.
‘‘(3) WEBSITE.—Not later than 3 years after the date on Applicability.
which the guidance under paragraph (1) is issued, the Director
and the Secretary shall ensure that the data standards estab-
lished under subsection (a) are applied to the data made avail-
able on the website established under section 2.
‘‘(d) CONSULTATION.—The Director and the Secretary shall con-
sult with public and private stakeholders in establishing data stand-
ards under this section.
‘‘SEC. 5. SIMPLIFYING FEDERAL AWARD REPORTING.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director, in consultation with relevant Consultation.
Federal agencies, recipients of Federal awards, including State and Review.
local governments, and institutions of higher education (as defined
in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
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1002)), shall review the information required to be reported by
recipients of Federal awards to identify—
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128 STAT. 1150 PUBLIC LAW 113–101—MAY 9, 2014
‘‘(1) common reporting elements across the Federal Govern-
ment;
‘‘(2) unnecessary duplication in financial reporting; and
‘‘(3) unnecessarily burdensome reporting requirements for
recipients of Federal awards.
‘‘(b) PILOT PROGRAM.—
Deadline. ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of the Digital Accountability and Transparency
Act of 2014, the Director, or a Federal agency designated by
the Director, shall establish a pilot program (in this section
referred to as the ‘pilot program’) with the participation of
appropriate Federal agencies to facilitate the development of
recommendations for—
‘‘(A) standardized reporting elements across the Fed-
eral Government;
‘‘(B) the elimination of unnecessary duplication in
financial reporting; and
‘‘(C) the reduction of compliance costs for recipients
of Federal awards.
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The pilot program shall—
‘‘(A) include a combination of Federal contracts, grants,
and subawards, the aggregate value of which is not less
than $1,000,000,000 and not more than $2,000,000,000;
‘‘(B) include a diverse group of recipients of Federal
awards; and
‘‘(C) to the extent practicable, include recipients who
receive Federal awards from multiple programs across mul-
tiple agencies.
‘‘(3) DATA COLLECTION.—The pilot program shall include
data collected during a 12-month reporting cycle.
‘‘(4) REPORTING AND EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS.—Each
recipient of a Federal award participating in the pilot program
shall submit to the Office of Management and Budget or the
Federal agency designated under paragraph (1), as appropriate,
any requested reports of the selected Federal awards.
‘‘(5) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall terminate on
the date that is 2 years after the date on which the pilot
program is established.
‘‘(6) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days after
the date on which the pilot program terminates under para-
graph (5), the Director shall submit to the Committee on Home-
land Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee
on the Budget of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform and the Committee on the Budget
of the House of Representatives a report on the pilot program,
which shall include—
‘‘(A) a description of the data collected under the pilot
program, the usefulness of the data provided, and the
cost to collect the data from recipients; and
‘‘(B) a discussion of any legislative action required and
recommendations for—
‘‘(i) consolidating aspects of Federal financial
reporting to reduce the costs to recipients of Federal
awards;
‘‘(ii) automating aspects of Federal financial
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reporting to increase efficiency and reduce the costs
to recipients of Federal awards;
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PUBLIC LAW 113–101—MAY 9, 2014 128 STAT. 1151
‘‘(iii) simplifying the reporting requirements for
recipients of Federal awards; and
‘‘(iv) improving financial transparency.
‘‘(7) GOVERNMENT-WIDE IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than Deadline.
1 year after the date on which the Director submits the report Guidance.
under paragraph (6), the Director shall issue guidance to the Applicability.
heads of Federal agencies as to how the Government-wide
financial data standards established under section 4(a) shall
be applied to the information required to be reported by entities
receiving Federal awards to—
‘‘(A) reduce the burden of complying with reporting
requirements; and
‘‘(B) simplify the reporting process, including by
reducing duplicative reports.
‘‘SEC. 6. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR FEDERAL FUNDING. Public
information.
‘‘(a) INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with paragraph (2), the Consultation.
Inspector General of each Federal agency, in consultation with
the Comptroller General of the United States, shall—
‘‘(A) review a statistically valid sampling of the Review.
spending data submitted under this Act by the Federal
agency; and
‘‘(B) submit to Congress and make publically available
a report assessing the completeness, timeliness, quality,
and accuracy of the data sampled and the implementation
and use of data standards by the Federal agency.
‘‘(2) DEADLINES.—
‘‘(A) FIRST REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after
the date on which the Director and the Secretary issue
guidance to Federal agencies under section 4(c)(1), the
Inspector General of each Federal agency shall submit
and make publically available a report as described in
paragraph (1).
‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—On the same date as the
Inspector General of each Federal agency submits the
second and fourth reports under sections 3521(f) and
9105(a)(3) of title 31, United States Code, that are sub-
mitted after the report under subparagraph (A), the
Inspector General shall submit and make publically avail-
able a report as described in paragraph (1). The report
submitted under this subparagraph may be submitted as
a part of the report submitted under section 3521(f) or
9105(a)(3) of title 31, United States Code.
‘‘(b) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with paragraph (2) and
after a review of the reports submitted under subsection (a),
the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit
to Congress and make publically available a report assessing
and comparing the data completeness, timeliness, quality, and
accuracy of the data submitted under this Act by Federal agen-
cies and the implementation and use of data standards by
Federal agencies.
‘‘(2) DEADLINES.—Not later than 30 months after the date
on which the Director and the Secretary issue guidance to
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Federal agencies under section 4(c)(1), and every 2 years there-
after until the date that is 4 years after the date on which
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128 STAT. 1152 PUBLIC LAW 113–101—MAY 9, 2014
the first report is submitted under this subsection, the Comp-
troller General of the United States shall submit and make
publically available a report as described in paragraph (1).
‘‘(c) RECOVERY ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY BOARD
DATA ANALYSIS CENTER.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may establish a data anal-
ysis center or expand an existing service to provide data, ana-
lytic tools, and data management techniques to support—
‘‘(A) the prevention and reduction of improper pay-
ments by Federal agencies; and
‘‘(B) improving efficiency and transparency in Federal
spending.
Memorandum. ‘‘(2) DATA AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall enter into
memoranda of understanding with Federal agencies, including
Inspectors General and Federal law enforcement agencies—
‘‘(A) under which the Secretary may provide data from
the data analysis center for—
‘‘(i) the purposes set forth under paragraph (1);
‘‘(ii) the identification, prevention, and reduction
of waste, fraud, and abuse relating to Federal spending;
and
‘‘(iii) use in the conduct of criminal and other inves-
tigations; and
‘‘(B) which may require the Federal agency, Inspector
General, or Federal law enforcement agency to provide
reimbursement to the Secretary for the reasonable cost
of carrying out the agreement.
‘‘(3) TRANSFER.—Upon the establishment of a data analysis
center or the expansion of a service under paragraph (1), and
on or before the date on which the Recovery Accountability
and Transparency Board terminates, and in addition to any
other transfer that the Director determines is necessary under
section 1531 of title 31, United States Code, there are trans-
ferred to the Department of the Treasury all assets identified
by the Secretary that support the operations and activities
of the Recovery Operations Center of the Recovery Account-
ability and Transparency Board relating to the detection of
waste, fraud, and abuse in the use of Federal funds that are
in existence on the day before the transfer.
‘‘SEC. 7. CLASSIFIED AND PROTECTED INFORMATION.
‘‘Nothing in this Act shall require the disclosure to the public
of—
‘‘(1) information that would be exempt from disclosure
under section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly
known as the ‘Freedom of Information Act’); or
‘‘(2) information protected under section 552a of title 5,
United States Code (commonly known as the ‘Privacy Act of
1974’), or section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
‘‘SEC. 8. NO PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.
‘‘Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create a private
right of action for enforcement of any provision of this Act.’’.
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PUBLIC LAW 113–101—MAY 9, 2014 128 STAT. 1153
SEC. 4. EXECUTIVE AGENCY ACCOUNTING AND OTHER FINANCIAL
MANAGEMENT REPORTS AND PLANS.
Section 3512(a)(1) of title 31, United States Code, is amended
by inserting ‘‘and make available on the website described under
section 1122’’ after ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’.
SEC. 5. DEBT COLLECTION IMPROVEMENT.
Section 3716(c)(6) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘Any Federal agency’’;
(2) in subparagraph (A), as so designated, by striking ‘‘180
days’’ and inserting ‘‘120 days’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(B) The Secretary of the Treasury shall notify Congress of Notification.
any instance in which an agency fails to notify the Secretary as
required under subparagraph (A).’’.
Approved May 9, 2014.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 994 (H.R. 2061):
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 113–270 (Comm. on Oversight and Government Reform)
accompanying H.R. 2061.
SENATE REPORTS: No. 113–139 (Comm. on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 160 (2014):
Apr. 10, considered and passed Senate.
Apr. 28, considered and passed House.
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