[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 159 (Monday, August 18, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44006-44007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21817]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-5876-7]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Obtaining Unbilled Grant Expenses From Grant 
Officials at Year-End

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.), this notice announces that the following Information 
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Obtaining Unbilled Grant 
Expenses From Grant Officials at year-end, EPA ICR No. 1810.01. The ICR 
describes the nature of the information collection and its expected 
burden and cost.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 17, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR A COPY CALL: Sandy Farmer at EPA, (202) 260-
2740, and refer to EPA ICR No. 1810.01

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Title: Obtaining Unbilled Grant Expenses From Grant Officials at 
Year-end (EPA ICR No. 1810.01). This is a new collection.
    Abstract: EPA's Financial Management Division (FMD) prepares annual 
financial statements that present the financial position and results of 
operations for EPA. The financial statements must comply with the 
Statements of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) and other 
accounting requirements. EPA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) 
audits these financial statements to determine whether they fairly and 
accurately reflect EPA financial conditions.
    To meet the SFFAS requirements, EPA must report the estimated 
amount of its accrued liabilities. These accrued liabilities include: 
(1) Grant expenses incurred during the fiscal year that the grant 
recipient has paid and recorded in its accounting records but has not 
yet billed to EPA; and (2) grant expenses that vendors have billed the 
grant recipient between October 1 and November 15 (following the end of 
the Federal fiscal year) that relate to the prior fiscal year. EPA, 
working with its OIG, has evaluated the use of existing reports as a 
source of accrued liability information. However, for grants paid 
through the ACH electronic funds transfer mechanism, EPA has been 
unable to determine how to obtain this information without contacting 
the grant recipients themselves. ACH drawdown requests do not include 
period of performance data, which is essential for determining 
accruals. To minimize the amount of burden associated with gathering 
this data, EPA believes that information from a sample of 103 grants is 
sufficient to meet its financial statement needs. EPA would use 
estimation techniques to project the amount of grant accruals 
applicable to all EPA grants paid through ACH.
    The grant recipients selected in the sample would only be asked to 
report the accrual information on the specific grant, and not all EPA 
grants to that grantee. Further, other EPA grant recipients would not 
be affected by this information collection request. EPA will also 
request information from the selected grant recipients on their billing 
practices in order to conduct additional analyses to improve our 
accrual estimates.
    Unless EPA is able to obtain this information from the selected 
grant recipients, and develop a reasonable estimate of accruals based 
on that data, EPA does not believe it will be able to obtain an 
unqualified (``clean'') audit opinion from the OIG on its financial 
statements. Thus the information is crucial for EPA to meet its 
fiduciary responsibilities.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB

[[Page 44007]]

control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are 
listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR Ch. 15. The Federal Register notice 
required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on this collection 
of information was published on June 3, 1997, (FR Vol. 62, No. 106); 1 
comment was received asking for clarification of the information EPA 
was requesting.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and record keeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 6.75 
hours per response. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial 
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or 
disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This 
includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, 
install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of 
collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and 
maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; 
adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable 
instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to 
a collection of informa-tion; search data sources; complete and review 
the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the 
information.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Entities receiving grants from EPA.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 103.
    Frequency of Response: 1.
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 695 hours.
    Estimated Total Annualized Cost Burden: $15,647.50.
    Send comments on the Agency's need for this information, the 
accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods 
for minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques to the following addresses. Please 
refer to EPA ICR No. 1810.01 in any correspondence.

Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OPPE Regulatory 
Information Division (2137), 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460

      and

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW, 
Washington, DC 20503.

    Dated: August 13, 1997.
Richard Westlund,
Acting Regulatory Information Division.
[FR Doc. 97-21817 Filed 8-15-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P