42 U.S.C. § 1437z–9

(a) Designation The Secretary shall, in consultation with an interagency work group established by the Office of Management and Budget, and considering State government perspectives, designate data exchange standards to govern, under this chapter— (1) necessary categories of information that State agencies operating related programs are required under applicable law to electronically exchange with another State agency; and (2) Federal reporting and data exchange required under applicable law. (b) Requirements The data exchange standards required by subsection (a) shall, to the maximum extent practicable— (1) incorporate a widely accepted, nonproprietary, searchable, computer-readable format, such as the eXtensible Markup Language; (2) contain interoperable standards developed and maintained by intergovernmental partnerships, such as the National Information Exchange Model; (3) incorporate interoperable standards developed and maintained by Federal entities with authority over contracting and financial assistance; (4) be consistent with and implement applicable accounting principles; (5) be implemented in a manner that is cost-effective and improves program efficiency and effectiveness; and (6) be capable of being continually upgraded as necessary. (c) Rules of construction Nothing in this section requires a change to existing data exchange standards for Federal reporting found to be effective and efficient.