Standard Form LLL, the Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, is the federal form your organization files when it uses its own non-federal money to pay a lobbyist in connection with a federal contract, grant, loan, loan guarantee, or cooperative agreement over $100,000. The form goes to the agency making the award and becomes a public record of who lobbied, whom they contacted, and how much they were paid. You can download the current version from the General Services Administration or pick it up as part of an application package on Grants.gov.1General Services Administration. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities
Who Has to File
The filing duty comes from 31 U.S.C. § 1352, the Byrd Amendment. The statute bars using appropriated federal funds to influence a federal officer, member of Congress, or congressional staffer in connection with a federal award, and it requires disclosure when you spend your own money on that kind of influence.
The dollar trigger depends on the type of federal action. For contracts, grants, loans, loan guarantees, and cooperative agreements, you file when the transaction exceeds $100,000. For federal loan insurance, the threshold is $150,000. These figures sit in the statute itself and are not adjusted for inflation.2GovInfo. 31 USC 1352 – Limitation on Use of Appropriated Funds to Influence Certain Federal Contracting and Financial Transactions
One boundary worth being clear about: if nobody was paid to lobby in connection with your specific federal action, you do not complete SF-LLL. In that case the anti-lobbying certification packaged with the solicitation or application is enough on its own. SF-LLL only comes in when lobbying actually happened and non-federal money paid for it.3Federal Transit Administration. Certifications and Disclosure of Lobbying Activities
The obligation runs through every tier. Prime contractors, prime grant recipients, subcontractors, and sub-grantees all file their own SF-LLL when they cross the threshold and paid a lobbyist in connection with the covered action.
Where to Get the Current Form
GSA hosts the fillable PDF in its forms library. Grant applicants will usually find SF-LLL already included in the forms package they download from Grants.gov for a specific funding opportunity.4Grants.gov. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities SF-LLL Some agencies also post their own copies. Use whichever version the awarding agency provides or accepts.
Filling Out the Form
SF-LLL fits on a single page, with a continuation sheet for additional lobbyists. Every field marked “Required” in the instructions has to be completed or the submission is incomplete.5Grants.gov. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities SF-LLL Instructions
Type and Status of the Federal Action
Check the box for the type of transaction: contract, grant, cooperative agreement, loan, loan guarantee, or loan insurance. Then check the status. An initial award means a bid or offer on a contract or an initial application for a grant or loan. A post-award action covers continuations, renewals, and modifications. Also mark whether this is an initial filing or a material change report; if it is a material change, enter the year and quarter that triggered the update.
Reporting Entity
Enter the full legal name and address of the organization that paid for the lobbying. Check whether you are the prime awardee or a sub-awardee. Sub-awardees also fill in the prime contractor or grantee’s name and address in the next field, so the agency can trace the funding chain. The congressional district line is optional.
Federal Agency
Name the agency making the award or loan commitment. Include at least one organizational level below the top agency where you know it — for example, “Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration” rather than just “Department of Transportation.”6U.S. Department of Education. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities
Federal Program and Assistance Listing Number
Enter the program name. For grants, cooperative agreements, and loans, also enter the Assistance Listing number (formerly the CFDA number). The full catalog lives under Assistance Listings on SAM.gov.
Lobbyist Information
This is the substance of the disclosure. You identify both the lobbying registrant (the firm or individual you retained) and the specific individuals who actually made lobbying contacts on your behalf. Provide the full name and address for each. If the individuals work at the registrant’s address, “same as above” is acceptable rather than repeating it.
SF-LLL is aimed at outside lobbying — the third-party firms and consultants hired specifically to influence federal officials on your behalf. In-house employees communicating with the government as part of performing or seeking the contract generally are not paid lobbyists for purposes of this form. When you used more than one firm or multiple individuals, attach the continuation sheet in the same format.
Amount and Payment Method
Report the amount paid or expected to be paid to the lobbying registrant. On a material change report, enter the cumulative amount since the original filing, not just the increment. Check the payment method: retainer, one-time fee, commission, contingent fee, or deferred. More than one can apply.
Signature
The authorized representative of the reporting entity signs and dates the form. The signature line carries a certification that the information is a material representation of fact and that the entity understands the penalties for failing to disclose. Whoever signs takes personal responsibility for accuracy.
Subcontractors and Sub-Grantees
The Byrd Amendment flows down through every tier of a covered federal action. If you are a prime contractor above the $100,000 threshold, you collect lobbying certifications and disclosures from each subcontractor whose subcontract also crosses the threshold. Sub-tier SF-LLL forms come up the chain to you, and you forward copies to the contracting officer.7General Services Administration. FAR 52.203-12 Limitation on Payments to Influence Certain Federal Transactions The same flow-down applies to prime grantees passing federal funds to sub-grantees.
Sub-awardees mark the “SubAwardee” box on their own SF-LLL and list the prime’s name and address so the agency can trace lobbying activity back through the funding chain.
How and Where to Submit
The completed form goes to the agency overseeing the award. Grant applicants typically upload SF-LLL as part of the electronic application package on Grants.gov. Contractors submit it to the contracting officer with the bid or proposal, or at the time of award if the lobbying begins later.
Prime contractors who receive SF-LLL forms from subcontractors have to forward those copies to the contracting officer within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter in which the subcontractor submitted the form. Keep a copy of every disclosure and certification in your own files; agencies can request them during audits. The agency in turn reports submitted disclosures to Congress on a semi-annual basis, and those compilations are open to public inspection, so treat everything on the form as public.
When You Have to Update the Filing
Your obligation does not end at the initial filing. You file an updated SF-LLL whenever a material change happens during the life of the contract, grant, or loan. Federal Transit Administration guidance defines a material change as any of three events:
- The cumulative amount paid or expected to be paid for lobbying increases by $25,000 or more since the last report.
- A different person or firm starts performing lobbying services on your behalf.
- The lobbying targets shift, meaning your lobbyist begins contacting different agency officers, congressional members, or their staff.
On the update, check the “material change” box instead of “initial filing,” enter the relevant calendar quarter, and report the cumulative payment amount rather than the incremental change. For federal contracts, primes forward any subcontractor updates to the contracting officer within 30 days after the quarter ends.
Penalties
The statute creates two separate penalty tracks, each carrying the same range. Using appropriated federal funds to lobby on a covered action triggers a civil penalty of $10,000 to $100,000 for each prohibited expenditure. Failing to file or amend SF-LLL when required triggers a separate civil penalty of $10,000 to $100,000 for each failure to disclose.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1352 – Limitation on Use of Appropriated Funds to Influence Certain Federal Contracting and Financial Transactions
Filing late after an investigation has already begun does not shield you from the penalty for the original failure. The statute says explicitly that submitting the form after an agency starts an enforcement action does not prevent the fine for the period before the filing.
Beyond fines, failing to disclose can lead to suspension or debarment, which bars your organization from receiving federal contracts or financial assistance for a set period. Agencies can also pursue other available remedies on top of the civil penalty, since the statute preserves the government’s right to seek additional relief for the same conduct.
Mistakes That Get Forms Bounced
The page is short, but a handful of errors come up over and over. Listing only the lobbying firm and leaving the individual performers blank will get the form kicked back; the agency needs to know which people actually made the contacts. On a material change report, entering the incremental payment instead of the cumulative total creates confused records and often a follow-up request.
Some organizations confuse the anti-lobbying certification with SF-LLL. The certification is a blanket statement that no federal funds were used for lobbying, and virtually every applicant or bidder above $100,000 signs one. SF-LLL is the additional disclosure that only applies when non-federal money paid a lobbyist. Filing the certification alone when SF-LLL was also required leaves you exposed to the disclosure penalty.
Watch the flow-down on subcontracts. If a subcontractor paid a lobbyist, their SF-LLL still has to reach your contracting officer, and the 30-day clock after the quarter’s end is on you, not the subcontractor.