These final rules establish new regulations dealing with the administrative requirements for grants and cooperative agreements with State and local governments. The Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994 established SSA as an independent agency separate from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), effective March 31, 1995. As part of our effort to implement our own set of grants regulations, we are codifying the text of the governmentwide grants management Common Rule, "Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and Local Governments." This final rule, along with the final rules we are publishing elsewhere in today's Federal Register, establish SSA grants regulations, separate from those of HHS, effective upon publication.