§ 290aa–15 — Department Of Health And Human Services Grant Accountability

(1) In this section: (A) The term “applicable committees” means— (i) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate; and (ii) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives. (B) The term “covered grant” means a grant awarded by the Secretary under a program established under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act, other than sections 703 through 707), including any grant administered by the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration under section 1536 of title 21. (C) The term “grantee” means the recipient of a covered grant. (D) The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. (2) Each covered grant shall be subject to the following accountability requirements: (A) The Secretary shall require grantees to report on the effectiveness of the activities carried out with amounts made available to carry out the program under which the covered grant is awarded, including the number of persons served by such grant, if applicable, the number of persons seeking services who could not be served by such grant, and such other information as the Secretary may prescribe. (i) Not later than 1 year after July 22, 2016, the Secretary, in coordination with the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, shall submit to the applicable committees a report on the policies and procedures the Department has in place to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in the administration of covered grants. (ii) The policies and procedures referred to in clause (i) shall include policies and procedures that are designed to— (I) prevent grantees from utilizing funds awarded through a covered grant for unauthorized expenditures or otherwise unallowable costs; and (II) ensure grantees will not receive unwarranted duplicate grants for the same purpose. (i) No amounts made available to the Secretary under this Act (or in a provision of law amended by this Act, other than sections 703 through 707) may be used by the Secretary, or by any individual or entity awarded discretionary funds through a cooperative agreement under a program established under this Act (or in a provision of law amended by this Act), to host or support any expenditure for conferences that uses more than $20,000 in funds made available by the Secretary, unless the head of the relevant operating division or program office provides prior written authorization that the funds may be expended to host or support the conference. Such written authorization shall include a written estimate of all costs associated with the conference, including the cost of all food, beverages, audio-visual equipment, honoraria for speakers, and entertainment. (ii) The Secretary (or the Secretary’s designee) shall submit to the applicable committees an annual report on all conference expenditures approved by the Secretary under this subparagraph.