Federal Program Agencies: Correspondence

Federal Program Agency
ASAP User's Group Meeting
Arlington, VA
May 17, 2004

Introductions/General Remarks
Christine Ricci, Manager of the Customer Liaison Staff, began the meeting with introductions of the panel members: Elizabeth Oldenburg, Director of the ASAP Program Office; Art LeBlanc, Vice Chair and Federal Program Agency Representative of the ASAP Customer Board (CB) from Food and Nutrition Service; Carol Cole, Regional Operations; Christopher Tighe and Holly Robedeau from the ASAP Development Staff; Janet Lee and Linda Putman from the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank; Linda Youngblood; San Francisco Finance Center, Diane Jackson; Philadelphia Finance Center; Dwight Sage, Kansas City Finance Center; and Margie Springer, Customer Liaison Staff.

Art Leblanc, as a member of the CB for 3 years, provided an overview of the Board responsibilities to represent ASAP user communities. Art offered to share his experiences and offered to help any user with the ASAP.gov system.

Latest News for Federal Program Agencies
Christine gave an overview of the implementation schedule of ASAP.gov and noted that with new enrollments, which were suspended September 30, 2003, are being accepted as of May 3, 2004. Regional Financial Centers (RFCs) accumulated new user enrollment information so they would be ready to process the enrollments once ASAP.gov was fully implemented and existing users transitioned. Revised enrollment forms for Payment Requestors have been posted to the FMS ASAP web site at www.fms.treas.gov/asap. Fields have been added to capture e-mail and contact information.

Legacy ASAP Cutoff:
Legacy ASAP access will remain available for the near future. We will be monitoring and contacting users who are continuing to use the legacy access. Users will be notified approximately 30 days before the cut off access to the Legacy system.

Training Options:
Christine provided an overview of the types of training options available for ASAP .gov. Training includes nationwide face-to-face training in Washington, DC, San Francisco, Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Denver.

FMS plans to conduct monthly classroom training sessions in Washington, DC and its RFC locations in San Francisco, Kansas City, and Philadelphia through October. The training schedule will be posted on FMS ' s ASAP website. Additional methods of training available include a web-based tutorial which is a demo on how to complete each type of function in ASAP.gov; an interactive training platform that mimics production by accessing a copy of the user's own data to conduct test transactions; a robust online Help system with "Help for This Step" assistance; and revised user guides which are available to download on the FMS ASAP website.

The training application is currently located in a test environment and recent load testing has impacted the availability of the training application. FMS plans to move the training application to its own environment which will improve its performance and availability. For now, the training environment should be available consistently on scheduled dates through the end of December. The schedule is posted on the FMS ASAP website.

Change Management Process:
Christine discussed the new formal Change Management Process where users can request changes or enhancements to the ASAP.gov application. The form and instructions are posted on FMS' s ASAP website.

Questions & Answers:

Q: Is there a way to track or report bugs within the system?
A: We ask that users experiencing problems with the system capture screen shots and send them electronically or via fax to the servicing RFC.

Q: Has there been a problem issuing IDs for NOAA?
A: We are in the process of loading new users for NOAA to the system. IDs should be issued within the next 2 weeks. This issue has been a top priority.

Q: Does the normal process take 2 weeks to enroll?
A: No. The CBAF staff at the Richmond Fed had to manually load 895 people. There's been a problem with the process for the PIN mailer. If a user has not received ID and password information, contact your servicing RFC.

Q: Is the ASAP.gov system a mirror image of the legacy system?
A: Yes, with the exception of specific accounts such as suspended or closed accounts which are only available in the .gov system.

Q: Are requestors able to see a suspended account if they are still using the legacy system?
A: Requestors can see suspended accounts within Inquiry.

Q: Is the data within the legacy system contained within the .gov system?
A: The database remains the same with an internet front-end. Again, suspended or closed accounts will only be seen in .gov.

Chris reminded everyone that special characters cannot be used. It may cause some accounts to not show up. Chris used the example of" &" in Texas A&M. Use of special characters affects less than 1 percent of all ASAP accounts.

Re-certification of Users:
As the Information System Security Officer (ISSO) for ASAP.gov, Chris described the recertification process for Federal users. In December 2003, a letter was sent to the Head of the Agency or designee listing all users and their roles to be recertified. Chris noted that if users retired or are on detail, IDs and passwords should not be given out. It is a security violation. Agencies should contact their servicing RFC to delete or add users to the system. The letter was sent the beginning of May. The Form with original signatures must be returned by May 21. The recertification process is done yearly and will be automated next year.

Liz noted that auditors are expected in June. We may have to turn off access to users who have not been recertified. If the information was sent to you erroneously, please forward to the correct person.

Questions & Answers:

Q: Should the forms be sent to the servicing RFC or to Chris?
A: Forms should be returned to Chris.

New Requirements for Certifying Officers:
Holly provided an overview of the new requirement for Certifying Officers to use Digital Signatures. ASAP.gov will require the use of smart cards to digitally sign authorization transactions beginning the 4th quarter of 2004 or the 1st quarter of 2005. This requirement impacts certifying officers (COs) who certify authorization transactions in ASAP.gov.

Through the use of PKI cryptography, digital signatures will securely identify and validate COs for the certification of authorizations within ASAP.gov. FMS will be contacting each ASAP.gov CO. Once contacted, each CO within an FP A will be required to complete and return a PKI enrollment package. Once FMS has processed the package, the CO will receive a Datakey smart card reader and instructions for installation. Additionally, a reference number will be sent via e-mail to the CO. The reference number will be needed later in the process to "burn" the CO's credentials on the smart card.

COs will then need to meet with an FMS trusted registration agent to be in-person proofed. The process is similar to having a document notarized. At the meeting, COs must present a government-issued photo ID. The CO will read and sign the PKI Subscriber Agreement, provide the previously e-mailed reference number, and receive a smart card with "burnt" credentials. The CO will then be ready to digitally sign their certification transactions.

Questions & Answers:

Q: Is the move to Digital Signatures consistent with the E initiative?
A: It is consistent within the Fiscal Service of which FMS is a part of.

Q: What is required of the Certifying Officer and/or designee?
A: A Form 210 must be completed and on file.

Carol gave an overview of the new features of ASAP.gov:

• The structure for passwords has changed;
• The expiration date for passwords is 45 days;
• IDs are emailed; passwords are sent via USPS mail;
• Training IDs and passwords are emailed;
• As the main method of contacting users, it is important that email addresses are kept current;
• It is important that users know which environment they are in. Since the production and training environment are identical, the URL identifies which environment you are using.
• If users are accessing the internet via Internet Explorer 6.02, the FMS ASAP web site (www.fms.treas.gov) has posted a patch needed to access the ASAP.gov system;
• We are no longer issuing legacy IDs and are monitoring users to continue to access the legacy system and encouraging them to move over to the .gov system;
• We plan to turn off access to the legacy system sometime in the future;
• If you do not have access to all of your accounts, contact your servicing RFC. We asked users to update their contact information. Some users did not complete contact information for each ALC and therefore do not have access.
• Budget End Date is now Period Performance End Date;
• Unless specifically entered, the default begin date is 01/01/0001; the default end date is 12/31/9999.
• We encourage all users to use .gov, however, if you are still working in the legacy system, do not intermittently work in the .gov system. Since you are accessing the same database -albeit with a different process -you may be duplicating your account activity.
• Inquiries and Reports are deleted within 7 business days;
• If an action has occurred, you will receive a Notification. Notifications are not to be used as office records. Notifications are deleted within 32 days;
• A rejected payment will generate an email, not a Notification.
• The Regional Financial Centers are changing their Customer Support hours. The new hours are: 7:30 a.m. -4:00 p.m.. If you need assistance after hours, contact the CBAF staff at (804) 697-8384.

Questions & Answers:

Q: Would it be possible to have access on the weekends?
A: Weekends are mainly reserved for testing and database work. Future Enhancements of ASAP.gov

Future Enhancements of ASAP.gov

Enrollment:
A redesigned enrollment process will be implemented with Release 2.0. This will be an automated, paperless enrollment process for all users -agencies, grant recipients and other receiving entities. It will be a fully web-based enrollment process for both Agencies and Requestor Organizations. Recipients will complete their own enrollment using ASAP.gov.

We are looking at a couple of options to verify the banking data. As of October 1, 2003, all users who wish to apply for a Federal grant must have a DUNS number and should register with the Department of Defense's Central Contractor Registration (CCR) Database. ASAP.gov is evaluating the ability to pull recipient banking data from the CCR during the enrollment process. We are conducting a proof of concept at this time to see if we can get accurate data. More information will be available as the enrollment requirements are defined.

Debt Offset:
ASAP.gov will provide the ability for an agency to offset payments it makes to recipients who have outstanding current debt with that agency. This feature would be for current debt which is defined as less than 18 months, not for delinquent debt. The debt offset feature will be agency specific (i.e., the Department of Education can only offset its own payments, not those made by the Department of the Interior).

Agencies will be able to offset payments manually by withholding a set dollar amount from a given payment or automatically by setting a percentage that should be withheld from any payment from a given account. There are legal requirements of notification to the debtor that must be made. The debt offset feature was requested by the Department of Education but will be available to all agencies once implemented in Release 2.0.

Questions & Answers:

Q: How is this related to the Debt Management Services Treasury Offset Program?
A: The offset feature is for current, not delinquent debt.

ACH Debit for Returns:
The next release is going to offer an ACH debit option that will allow a Payment Requestor or Recipient Organization to return money if a grant recipient draws down too much money and wants to return some of it. ASAP.gov will provide a function for users to request that ACH debits be initiated against their bank accounts for the amount they wish to return.

Questions & Answers:

Q: Is it possible to look at several reports instead of one at a time?
A: This is a feature that will be changed before the next release.

Q: Has the state listing for Account Balances been corrected? There's no WY on the listing.
A: Yes, the FRB has corrected and included WY in the state listing.

Q: For retrieving reports, would it be possible to have a 'Retrieve Another' button?
A: The enhancement has already been requested via a Change Management Form.

AMA Session [for Food and Nutrition Service only]
Art provided a brief overview session on the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) system.