The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas ("CPRIT" or "the Institute") adopts amendments to §§703.3, 703.11, 703.12, 703.14, 703.20, and 703.21 regarding requests for applications, clarification on grant applications, matching form due dates, the prevention percentage of overall grant funds, no cost extensions, tobacco free policy waivers, report due dates, and report approval rules. CPRIT adopts §§703.3, 703.11, 703.14, and 703.20 without changes to the proposed text as published in the December 4, 2015, issue of the Texas Register (40 TexReg 8721). CPRIT adopts §703.21 with changes to the proposed text to the proposed text as published in the December 4, 2015, issue of the Texas Register (40 TexReg 8721) and the rule will be republished. CPRIT adopts the amendment to §703.12 without changes to the proposed text as published in the December 25, 2015, issue of the Texas Register (40 TexReg 9459). After consideration of the public comments responsive to the rule change proposed for §703.13, CPRIT will not adopt a rule change to §703.13 as proposed in the December 4, 2015, issue of the Texas Register (40 TexReg 8721).

Reasoned Justification

The proposed amendments affect various aspects of the processes related to grants for cancer prevention and research. One proposed amendment removes the requirement that requests for applications (RFAs) be published in the Texas Register which eliminates a duplicative step when RFAs are announced on the CPRIT website and listserv. Another proposed amendment clarifies that CPRIT staff or CPRIT's third party grants administrator may contact the grant applicant to seek clarification on information provided in a grant application. The proposed amendments also change the due date of matching verification forms, clarify the annual ten percent cap on the allocation of grant award funds to cancer prevention grants, and directs the CEO to announce the full amount of grant award funds that are available to be awarded for the fiscal year. A proposed amendment to the "no cost extension" request process allows CPRIT's Chief Executive Officer to review and approve a request that is submitted outside of the specified deadline. Another proposed amendment allows grantees to request a waiver to the tobacco free policy; this is applicable to research projects that require tobacco and are conducted at the grantee's institution. The last series of proposed amendments affect grantee reports. One proposed amendment allows a grantee to receive more time in submitting required reports that are due before the execution date of a contract. Another proposed amendment requires matching fund reports, progress reports, and Financial Status Reports (FSRs) be approved by, rather than simply submitted to, the Institute in order for a grantee to receive disbursement of grant funds.

A typographical error to the proposed amendment §703.21(b)(2)(C) must be corrected. The subsection should read: "Notwithstanding subsection (2), in the event that the Grant Recipient and Institute execute the Grant Contract after the effective date of the Grant Contract, the Program Officer may approve additional time for the Grant Recipient to prepare and submit the outstanding FSR(s). The Program Officer's approval may cover more than one FSR and more than one fiscal quarter." The word "one" was omitted from the last sentence of the subsection. This correction does not substantially change the meaning of the subsection as it was originally proposed.

Summary of Public Comments and Staff Recommendation

CPRIT received public comments from Kimberly F. Turner, Chief Audit Executive, Texas Tech University (Texas Tech) regarding proposed changes to §703.13 and from Wesley Harrott, Associate Vice President, Research Administration, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (M.D. Anderson) regarding the proposed changes to §703.21.

Texas Tech submitted comments in reference to the proposed change to §703.13, which eliminates a program specific independent audit from the options a grantee may use to fulfill the audit requirement. Texas Tech contends that the program specific independent audit should remain a choice for grantees. In its public comment, Texas Tech asserts that a program specific independent audit is different from an agreed upon procedures audit. It is Texas Tech's opinion that retaining the option for a program specific independent audit, "provides a higher level of assurance as to the proper expenditure of CPRIT funds." While the agency does not concede the qualitative comparison made between the program specific independent audit and the agreed upon procedures option, CPRIT is persuaded that the program specific independent audit should remain an option for grantees at this time. The change originally proposed by the CPRIT will not be made. Texas Tech also comments suggesting that CPRIT obtain an annual audit of all expenditures for all grants made to institutions of higher education as defined by Texas Education Code §61.003. Texas Tech contends that, "This statewide engagement could be obtained at a much lower cost than the combined cost of multiple engagements the various higher education grant recipients must currently obtain." CPRIT declines to make this change to the rule because it is outside the scope of this proposed rulemaking.

M.D. Anderson submitted comments regarding proposed changes to §703.21. M.D. Anderson makes a general request that the rule be changed "to add a reasonable timeline for the CPRIT approval process e.g. 30 days for all reports and documents so that the disbursement of funds will be received in a timely manner." CPRIT declines to make this change to the rule because it is outside of the scope of the proposed rulemaking.

M.D. Anderson also comments with regard to the proposed change to §703.21(b)(2)(C), seeking clarity on how CPRIT will inform the grant recipient of the approval for additional time to prepare and submit additional FSRs. CPRIT has made a clarifying change to the proposed amendment to make clear that the Program Officer's approval will be in writing and maintained in CPRIT's grant management system. While it is likely that CPRIT staff and the grant recipient will be communicating contemporaneously about the pending approval for additional time to prepare and submit outstanding FSRs, this non-substantive change ensures that the grant recipient will be notified of the Program Officer's approval via CPRIT's grant management system. Additionally, the same non-substantive change has been added to §703.21(b)(3)(C) to provide the same clarity.

The amendment originally proposed to §703.13 and published in the December 4, 2015, issue of the Texas Register will not be made. The proposed amendments to §703.21 will be republished to reflect the correction of the typographical error and the non-substantive change in the proposed amendment to §703.21(b)(2)(C). The remaining amendments to Chapter 703 will be adopted as published in the December 4, and December 25, 2015, issues of the Texas Register and will not be republished.

The rule changes are adopted under the authority of the Texas Health and Safety Code Annotated, §102.108 and §102.251, which provides the Institute with broad rule-making authority to administer the chapter, including rules for awarding grants.