Are You Ready to Meet ARRA Reporting Requirements?

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Reporting Timeline

Section 1512 of ARRA requires recipients to submit quarterly reports to a new centralized reporting site, FederalReporting.gov, on each ARRA award no later than 10 calendar days after each calendar quarter (Jan 10, April 10, July 10, and Oct 10). From calendar day 11-21, recipients can review and edit their submitted data. Agencies then have 7 calendar days to review the reports, and on day 30, reports are published for public viewing on Recovery.gov.

What Can I Do Now to Prepare for October 1?

Remember, NIH awards grants to institutions, so institutional officials have the prime responsibility for reporting. If you are a PI who received an ARRA grant, your institution’s Sponsored Research Office should let you know what they need from you to comply with this reporting requirement.

Institutions will need to register with FederalReporting.gov when the Web site opens in mid-August. Begin now to determine what processes need to be in place for you to gather and submit all the required data when the first reporting period begins October 1, 2009.

Can NIH Provide Any of the Information I Need to Report?

Approximately 50 items need to be filled in for the first report. At this time, it does not appear as though agencies will have the ability to pre-populate information on those reports from our databases. However, NIH is looking at ways we can help our grantees by providing consolidated information on your institution’s ARRA grant awards from our systems in a way that will be convenient for this reporting requirement. Fortunately, many of the data items will remain the same for the life of the award, so once the initial report is complete, future reports will be much easier.

Further Information

Additional NIH resources include a Web site dedicated to ARRA Recipient Reporting with an extensive list of FAQs that will be regularly updated, links to the Office of Management and Budget guidance, a data table that provides guidance specific to NIH award data, a link to the NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-09-129 advising grantees of the Section 1512 reporting requirements, and contact information for further questions. We will provide the most up-to-date information and latest news on the site, so check back frequently.