[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 212 (Tuesday, November 3, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59327-59328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29313]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Information Collection Submission to OMB for Reinstatement Under 
Paperwork Reduction Act

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, as 
amended (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that an 
information collection request, OMB Control Number 1076-0135, ``Public 
Law 102-477 Reporting,'' was submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review 
and reinstatement under 5 CFR 1320.10. The first notice requesting 
comments about the collection was published in the Federal Register on 
February 24, 1998 (63 FR 9240-9241).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before December 3, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for Department of 
the Interior, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW, 
Washington, D.C. 20503. A copy should be sent to Lynn Forcia, Office of 
Economic Development, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street, NW, Mail 
Stop 4640-MIB, Washington, D.C. 20240. OMB is required to make a 
decision concerning this information collection request between 30 and 
60 days after publication of this document in the Federal Register. 
Therefore, a comment will receive the best consideration by OMB if it 
is submitted early during this comment period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
additional copies of the information collection instructions and the 
February 22, 1998 Federal Register should be directed to Lynn Forcia, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, 
NW, MS 4640-MIB, Washington, D.C. 20240 and Telephone: 202-219-5270. 
(This is not a toll-free number.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: A Reporting System for the P.L. 102-477 Demonstration 
Project, expired on March 31, 1998. This is a request for reinstatement 
of a slightly modified previously approved information collection 
request.
    I. Abstract: The information collection is needed to document 
satisfactory compliance with statutory requirements of the various 
integrated programs. Public Law 102-477 authorizes tribal governments 
to integrate federally-funded employment, training and related services 
programs into a single, coordinated, comprehensive service delivery 
plan. Funding agencies include the Department of the Interior, 
Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services. 
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is statutorily required to serve as the 
lead agency. Section 11 of this Act requires that the Secretary of the 
Interior make available a single universal report format which shall be 
used by a tribal government to report on integrated activities and 
expenditures undertaken. The Bureau of Indian Affairs shares the 
information collected from these reports with the Department of Labor 
and Department of Health and Human Services.
    II. Method of Collection: Tribal governments voluntarily 
participating in Public Law 102-477 are required to annually complete 
two single page, one-sided report forms and one narrative report, which 
includes four pages of instructions. They replace 166 pages of 
instructions and applications representing three different agencies and 
twelve different funded but related programs. We estimate a 95 percent 
reduction in reporting which is consistent with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act and goals of the National Performance Review. The statistical and 
narrative report will be used to demonstrate how well a plan was 
executed in comparison to proposed goals. The financial status report 
will be used to track cash flow, and will allow an analysis of 
activities versus expenditures and expenditures to approved budget. It 
is a slightly modified SF-269-A (short form).
    These report forms and narrative are limited but satisfy the 
Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor and the 
Department of the Interior. They reduce the burden on tribal 
governments by consolidating data collection for employment, training, 
education, child care and related service programs. The forms were 
developed by a partnership of tribes and representatives of all three 
Federal agencies, to standardize terms and definitions, eliminate 
duplication and reduce frequency of collection.

[[Page 59328]]

    Respondents: Tribes participating in Public Law 102-477 will report 
annually. Currently, there are 22 grantees participating in the 
program.
    Burden: We estimate that completion of the reporting requirements 
will require 10 hours per year to complete for each grantee, times 22 
grants equals 220 burden hours.

Public Comments and Responses

    All comments were considered in preparing BIA's response.
    The desk officer for Department of Labor at OMB verbally 
recommended that we add the following questions to the reporting forms 
in order to provide three additional items of information for the 
Department of Labor's new Welfare to Work program. Add to the Program 
Statistical report form:
    1. ``Welfare to work recipients entered unsubsidized employment.''
    2. ``Placements with duration of 180 days or more.''
    Add to the Narrative portion of the report, one sentence:
    3. ``The narrative should show the extent of participants in any 
Welfare to Work activities, e.g., the number of participants and what 
activities were included.''
    The P.L. 102-477 Tribal Work Group formed a subcommittee to review 
all P.L. 102-477 report forms including the OMB requested additions. 
The subcommittee included representatives from the Central Council of 
Tlingit and Haida Indians, Kodiak Area Native Association, the Shoshone 
Bannock Tribes, the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, the Sisseton-Wahpeton 
Sioux Tribe and the Indian and Native American Employment and Training 
Coalition. The subcommittee responded to the recommendations from the 
Office of Management and Budget as follows. To the Program Statistical 
report form:
    1. In the program consolidation authorized under P.L. 102-477, 
grantees no longer identify participants in each activity separately 
because the funding sources are not identified for each participant. 
Therefore, the subcommittee recommendation was added: ``Long-term TANF 
recipients entered unsubsidized employment.''
    2. The subcommittee stated that tracking participants for 180 days 
is very costly in terms of additional time and expense that could 
otherwise be spent toward finding unsubsidized employment for 
individuals. Therefore, the subcommittee recommended that grantees 
track clients for 90 days instead of 180 days. Tracking participants 
for 90 days would also be consistent with existing Department of Labor, 
JTPA requirements and participant eligibility for services. Therefore, 
we have decided to add the following question to the form: ``Placements 
with duration of 90 days or more.''
    3. The subcommittee agreed with the Office of Management and Budget 
that it was appropriate to add one sentence to the narrative 
instruction, and is as follows: ``The narrative should show the extent 
of participation in any welfare to work activities, e.g., the number of 
participants and the services such as job readiness, supportive 
services, and any post employment services provided to place long-term 
welfare recipients into employment and the success of such services.''
    The Bureau of Indian Affairs also received comments from five P.L. 
102-477 grantees and one other interested party, stating that the 
existing format has allowed tribes to spend more time providing 
services to clients and less time completing report forms. Grantees 
stated that initiation of a P.L. 102-477 program resulted in the 
integration of several programs and resulted in the elimination of 
distinction between related tribal employment and training participants 
based on the source of funds for the services. The grantees stated they 
wanted no additional information collection elements and requested a 
face-to-face meeting with OMB prior to making any changes to the 
existing forms. We did not receive any written comments from any of the 
other participating Federal agencies. We have incorporated the 
additions recommended by the P.L. 102-477 subcommittee because we 
believe the additional information is necessary to provide the 
Department of Labor and the Office of Management and Budget with the 
information necessary to adequately manage and evaluate the Welfare to 
Work program. The collection of the additional information is the 
minimum amount of information needed to accomplish this goal and to 
limit information collection and reporting requirements for grantee 
tribes, many with limited resources.

    Dated: October 23, 1998.
Kevin Gover,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 98-29313 Filed 11-2-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-02-P