[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 13, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73748-73749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-7252]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary

[Document Identifier: OS-4040-0004 (Formerly OMB-0348-0043) [30-day 
notice]


Grants.gov Program Management Office; Agency Information 
Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Grants.gov Program Management Office, 
HHS.
    In compliance with the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Grants.gov Program Management 
Office, one of the 26 E-Government initiatives, managed by the 
Department of Health and Human Services is publishing the following 
summary of proposed collection for public comment. Interested 
individuals are invited to send comments regarding any aspect of this 
collection of information or any other aspect of this collection of 
information, including any of the following subjects: (1) The necessity 
and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper 
performance of the agency's functions; (2) the accuracy of the 
estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information to be collected; and (4) the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology to 
minimize the information collection burden.
    Type of Information Collection Request: Regular, Revision of a 
currently approved collection;
    Title of Information Collection: SF-424 Application for Federal 
Assistance;
    Form/OMB No.: OS-4040-0004 (Formerly OMB-0348-0043);
    The SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance (OMB control number 
0348-0043) was cleared by OMB for emergency use on July 31, 2003, 
Federal Register notice [68 FR 44974]. OMB has since assigned the 
responsibility for this government-wide standard form to the Grants.gov 
Program Management Office and therefore the SF-424 Application for 
Federal Assistance OMB control number was changed in April 2005 from 
0348-0043 to 4040-0004. A 60-day Federal Register Notice was published 
on September 15, 2005 [Vol. 70. No. 178].
    Use: In the Federal Register notice published April 8, 2003 [68 FR 
17090], OMB proposed to establish a government-wide standard set of 
data elements and definitions for grant-related applications. After 
consultation with the public, OMB added four data elements to the 
existing Standard Form 424 (SF-424), Application for Federal Assistance 
data elements and established the data as the standard core data set 
for use on both paper and electronic applications. After obtaining 
emergency clearance, July 31, 2003, Federal Register notice, [68 FR 
44974], use of the standard data elements was implemented through the 
electronic grants application process of Grants.gov, and was deployed 
in October 2003 as part of the implementation of the Federal Financial 
Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 (Pub. L. 106-107).
    OMB recognized that a transition period would be needed to provide 
agencies time to adapt their application forms and systems to the SF-
424 core data set and to phase out the use of the old forms. OMB 
committed to a one-year transition period and further committed to 
reevaluate the data set at the end of the transition period. Following 
the expiration of the transition period, a cross-agency working group 
recommended revisions to the SF-424 core data set and form. Based on 
these recommendations, the Grants.gov Program office now proposes the 
addition of the following three new standard data elements to the SF-
424 data set and form: Requesting entity's Province to collect non-US 
geographic subdivision data for international address purposes, if 
applicable. Requesting entity's Point of Contact's Organizational 
Affiliation, if applicable. Requesting entity's Point of Contact's 
Title, if applicable.
    The Grants.gov Program office further proposes deletion of the 
requesting entity's designation of construction or non-construction 
type of submission data element. Also proposed are non-data collection 
related changes, i.e., renaming of data elements. These changes are 
presented in the supporting statement found on the HHS Web site at 
http://www.hhs.gov/oirm/infocollect/pending.
    Federal agencies will not be required to collect all of the 
information included in the data set. The agency will identify the data 
that must be provided by applicants through instructions that will 
accompany the application package.
    The efforts to address potential future revisions to the SF-424A 
and SF-424C budget forms and categories and to evaluate the SF-424B and 
SF-424D assurance language are separate efforts to be undertaken by the 
Public Law 106/107 working groups and have no impact upon the proposed 
revisions to the SF-424 data set or form.
    An estimate of the total burden was submitted during the first 
information collection package for the SF-424 on April 8, 2003, Federal 
Register notice [68 FR 17090]. The estimate has been updated based on 
the Paperwork Reduction Act Worksheets (OMB 83-C) received from the 
agencies. Collectively, the agencies plan to receive 142,223 
applications annually and estimate that it takes applicants one hour on 
average to complete each application. Cumulatively, the agencies report 
the total burden to applicants to be 146,758 hours.
    Frequency: Recordkeeping, Reporting, on occasion.
    Affected: Federal, State, Local and Tribal governments; farms; non-
profit institutions, and other for-profit.
    Total Annual Respondents: 77,576.
    Total Annual Responses: 142,223.

[[Page 73749]]

    Average Burden Per Response: 1 hour.
    To obtain copies of the supporting statement and any related forms 
for the proposed paperwork collections referenced above, access the HHS 
Web site address at http://www.hhs.gov/oirm/infocollect/pending/ or e-
mail your request, including your address, phone number, OMB number, 
and OS document identifier, to [email protected], or call the Reports 
Clearance Office on (202) 690-6162. Written comments and 
recommendations for the proposed information collections must be mailed 
within 30 days of this notice directly to the Desk Officer at the 
address below: OMB Desk Officer: Katherine Astrich, OMB Human Resources 
and Housing Branch, Attention: (OMB 4040-0004), New Executive Office 
Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503.

    Date: December 2, 2005.
Robert E. Polson,
Office of the Secretary, Paperwork Reduction Act Reports Clearance 
Officer.
[FR Doc. E5-7252 Filed 12-12-05; 8:45 am]
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