As noted on March 18, the higher education community asked the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for regulatory flexibility on federally supported research not directly related to COVID-19. Today, OMB issued a memo to agencies that would enable them to grant such flexibility on other non-COVID-19-related research activities.
The OMB memo reads, in part:
This memorandum provides similar administrative relief listed in M-20-11 to an expanded scope of recipients affected by the loss of operational capacity and increased costs due to the COVID-19 crisis. Many of the operational impacts and costs are unknowable at this point, as they will depend on the spread of the coronavirus and response dictated by public health needs. This memorandum provides short term relief for administrative, financial management, and audit requirements under 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, without compromising Federal financial assistance accountability requirements.