§5906. General rules regarding provision of assistance

(a) Notice of receipt of applications

Not later than 30 days before the start of each period established by the Corporate Board for receipt of applications for financial assistance under section 5904 or 5905 of this title, the Corporate Board shall publish in the Federal Register a notice that it will receive such applications.

(b) Monitoring

The Corporate Board shall monitor the progress of projects that receive financial assistance under this subchapter. Such monitoring may include on-site reviews by representatives of the Corporate Board or a Regional Center, the requirement of written reports by recipients of assistance, and supportive business and technical counseling as needed by the recipient.

(c) Auditing and accountability

(1) Required

The Corporate Board shall establish a thorough and effective system of auditing and accountability to ensure that funds paid under section 5904 or 5905 of this title are used by recipients only for the purposes for which those funds are provided by the Corporation.

(2) Demonstrated compliance

The Corporate Board may require that recipients of financial assistance demonstrate that the use of financial assistance is in compliance with the agreement by which that assistance is provided.

(d) Information exempt from disclosure

With respect to research, development, demonstration, or commercialization projects carried out with the participation of private research institutions or commercial companies, information received by the Corporation incident thereto shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552 of title 5 and shall not be made available publicly except-

(1) with the approval of the person providing the information; or

(2) in a judicial or administrative proceeding in which such information is subject to protective order.

(e) Overhead and administrative costs

The Corporate Board shall require that applications or responses to requests for proposals issued by the Corporation for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements include detailed estimates of project overhead and administrative costs. In selecting such applications or proposals for awards, the Corporation shall give preference to those with the lowest effective costs.

(f) Prohibition on certain uses of assistance

No grant may be awarded, or contract or cooperative agreement entered into under this subchapter, for the acquisition or construction of a building or a facility.

(g) Reports

(1) Preparation

As soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal year, the Corporate Board shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a report on the activities, progress, and accomplishments of the Corporation during such fiscal year. The report shall include-

(A) a description of the progress, activities, and accomplishments of the Corporation during that fiscal year and the expenditures by the Corporation for its information and other service activities; and

(B) a copy of the operating plan prepared by the Corporate Board under section 5903(c)(6) ¹ of this title.

(2) Transmittal

The Secretary shall transmit each report received under paragraph (1) to the President and Congress not later than 30 days after the date on which the Secretary receives the report.

( Pub. L. 101–624, title XVI, §1662, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 3764 ; Pub. L. 104–127, title VII, §726, Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1119 .)

References in Text

Section 5903 of this title, referred to in subsec. (g)(1)(B), was amended generally by Pub. L. 104–127, title VII, §723(a), Apr. 4, 1996, 110 Stat. 1115 , and, as so amended, subsec. (c) of section 5903 no longer contains a par. (6). See section 5903(c)(1)(E) of this title.

Amendments

1996-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–127, §726(2), substituted "Corporate Board" for "Board" in two places.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–127, §726(2), (3), in first sentence, substituted "The Corporate Board" for "The Board", in second sentence, substituted "Corporate Board or a Regional Center" for "Board, a Regional Center, or the Advisory Council" and struck out at end "The Board may use the Advisory Council appointed under section 5905 of this title to assist in such monitoring."

Subsecs. (c) to (e), (g). Pub. L. 104–127, §726(1), (2), substituted "Corporation" for "Center" and "Corporate Board" for "Board" wherever appearing.

¹ See References in Text note below.