Byrd Anti-Lobbying Amendment: Certification, SF-LLL, and Penalties

The Byrd Anti-Lobbying Amendment requires anyone applying for a covered federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement above the statutory dollar threshold to sign a certification confirming that no appropriated funds have been or will be used to lobby about the award, and to file Standard Form LLL (SF-LLL) whenever non-federal funds were used for that lobbying. Certification and disclosure under the Byrd Anti-Lobbying Amendment are handled together: the certification goes in with every covered bid or application, and SF-LLL rides along only when there is lobbying paid from non-federal money to report. Civil penalties run from $10,000 to $100,000 per violation, and they apply to filing failures independently of any improper spending.¹

When the Requirement Applies

The statute reaches procurement contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, loans, and loan guarantees, together with any extension, renewal, or amendment of one.¹ Whether you have to file depends on the dollar amount and the type of action.

For contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, subcontracts, and subgrants, the obligation attaches when the award exceeds $100,000.
For loans and loan guarantees, the threshold is $150,000, or the single-family maximum mortgage limit for the affected program, whichever is greater.²

Thresholds are evaluated tier by tier. Each subcontractor or sub-grantee that receives more than the applicable limit has its own certification and, if triggered, its own disclosure obligation.¹

The Certification

Every applicant for a covered award signs the Certification Regarding Lobbying. It is a short written declaration confirming two things: that no appropriated federal funds have been or will be paid to influence the awarding, extension, or modification of the covered action, and that if non-federal funds were used to lobby in connection with the action, SF-LLL will be filed.¹

The certification is mandatory and travels with the initial bid or application. There is no version of the process where you skip it and add it later.

When You Also Have to File SF-LLL

SF-LLL, the Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form, is only required when your organization used non-federal funds to pay someone to influence a covered federal action.³ If no such payments occurred, the signed certification is enough.

The form asks for:

The name and address of the lobbying registrant (the firm or individual retained).
The name and address of the specific individual who performed the lobbying contacts.
The type of federal action involved — contract, grant, loan, cooperative agreement, or other covered action.
Whether the submission is an initial filing or a follow-up reflecting a material change.

Once filed with the awarding agency, the information becomes part of the public record. Forms are available through the awarding agency or Grants.gov.

Filing Timing and Updates

Both the certification and any required SF-LLL go in with the initial bid or grant application.¹ For tiered awards, sub-recipients send their disclosures up to the tier above them; the prime recipient collects the full stack and forwards it to the federal agency.

Filing does not end at award. At the end of any calendar quarter in which a material change occurs, you must file an updated SF-LLL. Three events count as material changes:⁴

A cumulative increase of $25,000 or more in what has been paid or is expected to be paid for lobbying on the covered action.
A change in the person or firm doing the lobbying.
A change in the agency employees or members of Congress being contacted.

Any one of these on its own requires an update, and a missed update carries the same penalty exposure as a missed initial filing.

What Counts as Reportable Lobbying, and What Doesn’t

Two categories of activity fall outside the disclosure trigger, and understanding them keeps organizations from filing when they don’t need to.

Your Own Employees

Routine liaison by your own staff with agency officials or legislators, as part of their regular duties, is generally not treated as prohibited lobbying under the amendment.⁵ Employee salaries paid for those activities do not trigger the non-federal-funds disclosure requirement. Responding to a specific agency information request is likewise permissible at any time.

Professional and Technical Services

Professional advice and technical analysis rendered during the preparation, submission, or negotiation of a covered federal action are exempt. A lawyer drafting a legal document that accompanies a bid, or an engineer supplying technical performance data during contract negotiations, is providing an allowable service.⁶

The line is narrower than it looks. A lawyer who advocates generally for a client’s proposal, rather than performing legal analysis, crosses into lobbying. An engineer who produced a technical study before bid preparation began is not covered by the exception, because the service was not rendered directly in connection with the submission. Payment for exempt services must also be reasonable, meaning consistent with private-sector rates.

Penalties for Certification and Disclosure Failures

The statute punishes filing failures independently of any improper spending. There are two distinct penalty triggers:

Using appropriated funds for prohibited lobbying: $10,000 to $100,000 per violation.
Failing to file or amend a required certification or SF-LLL: $10,000 to $100,000 per failure.¹

An organization that spent no federal money on lobbying but neglected the paperwork is still exposed. Statutory ranges are subject to periodic inflation adjustments; for 2026, the Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to continue using 2025 penalty levels.⁷

Enforcement sits with the awarding agency and its Inspector General, which collect disclosures, monitor compliance, and pursue administrative sanctions.⁸ Beyond the fines, a violation can put future federal award eligibility at risk.

How Long to Keep the Records

Under the Uniform Guidance, recipients and sub-recipients must retain records related to a federal award for at least three years from the date of the final financial report.⁹ Lobbying certifications and SF-LLL filings fall within that requirement. If an audit, claim, or litigation is pending when the three years run, hold the records until the matter is resolved.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1352 – Limitation on Use of Appropriated Funds to Influence Certain Federal Contracting and Financial Transactions
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1352 – Limitation on Use of Appropriated Funds to Influence Certain Federal Contracting and Financial Transactions
3
Grants.gov. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) Form Instructions
4
eCFR. 31 CFR 21.110 – Filing
5
GovInfo. 22 CFR Part 227 – New Restrictions on Lobbying
6
eCFR. 31 CFR Part 21 – New Restrictions on Lobbying
7
The White House. M-26-11 Cancellation of Penalty Inflation Adjustments for 2026
8
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General. HUD Lacked Adequate Oversight To Ensure That Public Housing Agencies Complied With Federal Lobbying Disclosure Requirements and Restrictions
9
eCFR. 2 CFR 200.334 – Record Retention Requirements