er forms of federal financial assistance will soon get much-needed relief from the heavy access, administrative and compliance burdens currently imposed by the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance, commonly referred to as the "Uniform Grants Guidance." On April 4, 2024, the White House announced substantial updates to the Uniform Grants Guidance that set the baseline requirements for federal agencies in awarding grants and providing other financial assistance such as loans and cooperative agreements. The Uniform Grants Guidance is codified at 2 C.F.R. Part 200.1The updates, which are effective Oct. 1, 2024, are intended to streamline and clarify requirements for federal funding opportunities and materially reduce administrative burdens on recipients. They reflect input received from agencies across the federal government, as well as public input received in response to the OMB's Notification of Proposed Guidance published on Oct. 5, 2023 at 88 Fed. Reg. 69390. The updates aim to enable recipients to focus on the missions of their respective financial assistance awards, while also ensuring federal agencies can effectively safeguard taxpayer resources.The updates focus on three areas: 1) reducing unnecessary compliance costs, 2) removing barriers to accessing federal funding opportunities and 3) ensuring financial assistance best serves intended beneficiary communities. To reduce unnecessary (and seemingly ever-increasing) compliance costs associated with federal grants and financial assistance vehicles, the updates will modify numerous Uniform Grants Guidance requirements in order to simplify recipients' compliance responsibilities. For example, the updates reduce the number of additional "prior approvals" that recipients must receive from awarding agencies before spending money on specific activities. The updates also clarify ambiguous terms so that recipients can comply with the same requirement in the same way, irrespective of funding so