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National Endowment for the Arts
Freedom of Information Act Guide
Process for Reconsideration of Declined General Applications for Federal
Assistance
SUMMARY: The National Endowment for the Arts has been restructured.
The Notices of Process for Reconsideration of Declined General Applications
published on January 14, 1992 and March 29, 1993, are amended herein to
reflect the agency's new structure, including new office and division
names.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hope O'Keeffe, Acting General Counsel
(202) 682-5418, National Endowment for the Arts, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW., Room 518, Washington, DC 20506.
1. Purpose
The processes by which the National Endowment for the Arts (the "Endowment")
offers financial and technical assistance have been designed to result
in supporting projects of artistic excellence and merit. The Endowment
relies on discipline review and advisory panel review of grant applications
to assure that projects are of substantial artistic and cultural significance.
Panel recommendations are subsequently reviewed by the National Council
on the Arts, which provides advice to the Endowment's chairperson who
then decides whether to approve the applications recommended by the Council.
This Circular modifies the procedure for reconsideration
of applications for financial and technical assistance which have been
declined by the National Endowment for the Arts based on negative recommendations
of the advisory panel. This procedure does not include reconsideration
of grant amounts once a grant is awarded. This process does not apply
to applications recommended by the advisory panel but rejected by the
Council or Chairperson. Reconsideration of such applications is had at
the discretion of the Chairperson only. These revisions are being made
in light of a major restructuring of the Endowment and its grant making
process. The provisions of this Circular, which updates and amends the
earlier Circulars on this subject, dated December 16, 1992 and March 29,
1983, do not apply to procurement governed by the Federal Acquisition
Regulations. These provisions will apply to all requests for reconsideration
filed after October 1, 1996.
2. Policy
(a) Statement. Award of financial and technical
assistance is discretionary. Discipline and panel recommendations are
made using criteria described in the Endowment guidelines. Criteria that
involve subjective, qualitative judgments are not subject to reconsideration.
Notwithstanding this fact, a Project Director, Authorizing Official, or
individual whose application has been declined (hereafter referred to
as "applicant") may obtain an explanation of the declination from the
appropriate Endowment Discipline Director (hereafter referred to as "Director").
Following receipt of the explanation, if the applicant believes that the
declination was based on one or more of the following Grounds for Reconsideration,
reconsideration may be obtained under the procedure outlined in Section
3, below.
(b) Ground(s) for Reconsideration. Reconsideration
of application declinations is available solely for one or more of the
following three reasons relating to procedural impropriety or error:
(i) Discipline reviewers or advisory panel considered
criteria other than those appearing in the relevant guidelines.
(ii) Individual(s) with conflict of interest
served as a discipline reviewer or on the advisory panel.
(iii) Information relevant to the deliberations
was provided by staff, reviewers, panelists, or others, but not including
the applicant, which was inaccurate or incomplete, despite the fact that
the applicant provided the Endowment staff with accurate and
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complete information as part of the regular application process.
3. Procedure To Be Followed for Reconsideration
(a) Explanation by Director. Within 30 days
following written notification from the Endowment of its decision on any
application, the applicant may request an explanation for a declined application
from the appropriate Director. This initial request may be by telephone,
in person or in writing. The Director will explain within 30 days following
the applicant's request the basis for declination which may include a
summary of the discipline review, advisory panel comments, applicable
on-site evaluation reports, the names of all discipline reviewers, panel
and staff members, and other information not otherwise exempt from disclosure
requested by the applicant. If the Director cannot provide such explanation
within 30 days, the applicant will receive a written explanation of the
need for more time and an estimate of when the results can be expected.
The Director may designate another Endowment
official to provide the explanation for the declination to the applicant.
The term "Director" as used here applies to such designees.
(b) Request for Reconsideration. If the Director's
explanation appears to the applicant to indicate the presence of one or
more of the "Grounds for Reconsideration" listed in paragraph 2(b) above,
the applicant may submit to the Deputy Chairperson for Grants and Partnership
(hereafter referred to as "the Deputy") a written Request for Reconsideration.
This written request must reference the particular ground(s) for reconsideration
and specify the facts supporting his or her claim, with enough particularity
to enable the Deputy to determine whether the claim is meritorious. A
request of this nature will be considered only if (a) the Request for
Reconsideration is based on one or more of the grounds listed in paragraph
2(b); (b) the applicant has obtained an explanation from the appropriate
Director, (c) the applicant has specified with sufficient particularity
the facts supporting his or her claim; and (d) the Request for Reconsideration
is received by the Deputy within 30 days after the date of the Director's
explanation.
(c) Action by the Deputy.
(i) The Deputy will review the applicant's Request
for Reconsideration, records of the discipline review and panel discussions,
the applicant's application file, and any other relevant materials to
determine if the recommendations were influenced by one or more of the
grounds listed in paragraph 2(b). In conducting this review, the Deputy
may request additional information from the applicant, obtain advice from
an advisory panel, or conduct additional investigation or review. However,
no revisions or additions to the grant application materials will be accepted
in connection with the Request for Reconsideration except to the extent
that additional materials are necessary to substantiate the applicant's
claim that one or more of the grounds listed in paragraph 2(b) exists.
(ii) The Deputy may conduct the reconsideration
personally or may designate another Endowment official who had no part
in the initial evaluation to do so. The term "the Deputy", as used here,
applies to such designees.
(iii) The Deputy will provide written notification
of the results of the reconsideration within 45 days following receipt
of the Request for Reconsideration. If the Deputy cannot provide such
notice within 45 days, the applicant will receive a written explanation
of the need for more time and an estimate of when the results can be expected.
(d) Resolution of Requests for Reconsideration.
Reconsideration is not an adversarial process and a formal hearing is
not provided. The Endowment cannot assure applicants that reconsideration
will result in the award of a grant even if error is established in connection
with the initial evaluation. The Deputy shall make one of the following
four determinations. The determinations of the Deputy shall be in writing
and shall be final.
(i) If the Deputy determines that none of the
grounds listed in paragraph 2(b) existed, the declination will be affirmed.
(ii) If the Deputy determines that one or more
of the grounds listed in paragraph 2(b) existed, but the recommendation
of the advisory panel was not affected materially, the declination will
be affirmed.
(iii) If the Deputy determines that one or more
of the grounds listed in 2(b) existed, and he or she can determine, based
on the materials reviewed, that but for the infirmity in the review process,
the application would have been recommended, the application will be considered
by the National Council on the Arts at its next regularly scheduled meeting.
The Chairperson of the Endowment then will decide whether to approve applications
recommended by the Council.
(iv) If the Deputy determines that one or more
of the grounds listed in paragraph 2(b) occurred, but he or she cannot
determine whether, but for the infirmity, the advisory panel would have
recommended that application, the application will be reviewed by a panel.
If the panel recommends the application for support, the National Council
on the Arts will review it at the next regularly scheduled meeting. The
Chairperson of the Endowment then will decide whether to approve applications
recommended by the Council.
4. Reporting Requirements
The Deputy will maintain a record of Requests
for Reconsideration in accordance with the Endowment's Records Disposition
schedule. The record will include the date of receipt, the name of the
applicant, including name of organization or institution where applicable,
the application number, the determinations of the Deputy, and once the
Deputy's review is complete, the date on which each applicant was notified
of the results of the reconsideration, and what those results were.
Dated: September 23, 1996. Karen Christensen, General Counsel, National
Endowment for the Arts. [FR Doc. 96-25075 Filed 9-30-96; 8:45 am] BILLING
CODE 7536-01-M
National Endowment for the Arts
webmgr@arts.endow.gov
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