[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1575-1576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-393]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Notice of Proposed Information Collection Requests

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed information collection requests.

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SUMMARY: The Leader, Regulatory Information Management, Office of the 
Chief Information Officer, invites comments on the proposed information 
collection requests as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: An emergency review has been requested in accordance with the 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 3507(j)), since public harm is reasonably likely 
to result if normal clearance procedures are followed. Approval by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been requested by January 7, 
2004. A regular clearance process is also beginning. Interested persons 
are invited to submit comments on or before March 9, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Written comments regarding the emergency review should be 
addressed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Attention: Melanie Kadlic, Desk Officer: Department of Education, 
Office of Management and Budget; 725 17th Street, NW., Room 10235, New 
Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503 or should be 
electronically mailed to the internet address [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires that the Director of OMB 
provide interested Federal agencies and the public an early opportunity 
to comment on information collection requests. The Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) may amend or waive the requirement for public 
consultation to the extent that public participation in the approval 
process would defeat the purpose of the information collection, violate 
State or Federal law, or substantially interfere with any agency's 
ability to perform its statutory obligations. The Leader, Information 
Management Group, Office of the Chief Information Officer, publishes 
this notice containing proposed information collection requests at the 
beginning of the Departmental review of the information collection. 
Each proposed information collection, grouped by office, contains the 
following: (1) Type of review requested, e.g., new, revision, 
extension, existing or reinstatement; (2) Title; (3) Summary of the 
collection; (4) Description of the need for, and proposed use of, the 
information; (5) Respondents and frequency of collection; and (6) 
Reporting and/or Recordkeeping burden. ED invites public comment. The 
Department of Education is especially interested in public comment 
addressing the following issues: (1) Is this collection necessary to 
the proper functions of the Department; (2) will this information be 
processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden 
accurate; (4) how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how might the 
Department minimize the burden of this collection on respondents, 
including through the use of information technology.

    Dated: January 5, 2004.
Angela C. Arrington,
Leader, Regulatory Information Management Group, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer.

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

    Type of Review: Reinstatement.
    Title: Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I, Part 
C (Education of Migratory Children) Migrant Child Count Report.
    Abstract: The report collects information on the numbers of 
identified eligible migratory children in the States, for use in 
allocating State Migrant Education Program (MEP) formula grant funds 
and for reporting on the size of the migrant child population to 
Congress and the public.
    Additional Information: The Department is requesting emergency 
processing for this information collection since failure to collect the 
2002-03 migrant child count information in a timely manner will cause 
public harm in that the delay would diminish the reliability of the 
child counts and thus negatively affect the accuracy of the State MEP 
formula allocations. The reliability of child counts will suffer if 
data collection is delayed because many of the student record systems 
maintained by the State educational agencies (SEAs) from which these 
counts are generated are ``dynamic'' systems (i.e., the databases are 
continuously updated to include newly identified children.) Delays in 
reporting the 2002-03 child counts beyond December 1, 2003 will 
increase the likelihood that some SEAs will, by re-running their child 
counts after

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December 1, inadvertently count and report additional children who 
would not otherwise have been counted and reported to ED as ``Category 
1'' or ``Category 2'' within the usual (i.e., by December 1) reporting 
cycle. This will mean that not all States who ran the final counts 
after December 1 receiving higher allocations at the expense of the 
other States who ran their final counts before December 1.
    Because States have always annually reported their migrant child 
counts to the Department for allocation purposes, the data requested 
through this emergency clearance is not new or unexpected. All States 
have already collected the requested data and are awaiting an approved 
reporting mechanism from the Department to submit these data. All of 
the MEP child count information from the 2002-2003 reporting period is 
readily available for collection as the SEAs maintain migrant student 
record systems for many purposes. In summary, we are requesting an 
emergency review and clearance of a MEP Child Count Report containing 
the following information items: 12-Month Count of Students Eligible 
for Funding Purposes; Summer/Intersession Count of Participants 
Eligible for Funding Purposes; and a written summary of the procedures 
the state used to collect, compile and verify the accuracy of the child 
counts.
    We request OMB's emergency clearance of the MEP Child Count Report 
by January 7, 2004.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Affected Public: State, local, or tribal gov't, SEAs or LEAs.
    Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour Burden:
     Responses: 52.
     Burden Hours: 1560.
    Requests for copies of the proposed information collection request 
may be accessed from http://edicsweb.ed.gov, by selecting the ``Browse 
Pending Collections'' link and by clicking on link number 2430. When 
you access the information collection, click on ``Download 
Attachments'' to view. Written requests for information should be 
addressed to Vivian Reese, Department of Education, 400 Maryland 
Avenue, SW., Room 4050, Regional Office Building 3, Washington, DC 
20202-4651 or to the e-mail address [email protected]. Requests may 
also be electronically mailed to the Internet address [email protected] 
or faxed to 202-708-9346. Please specify the complete title of the 
information collection when making your request.
    Comments regarding burden and/or the collection activity 
requirements, contact Kathy Axt at her e-mail address [email protected]. 
Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
[FR Doc. 04-393 Filed 1-8-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-1-P