[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 79 (Wednesday, April 25, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20503-20504]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-7832]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Economic Development Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Application for 
Investment Assistance

AGENCY: Economic Development Administration (EDA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before June 25, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Diana Hynek, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
for copies of the information collection described in this notice 
should be directed to Kenneth M. Kukovich, EDA PRA Liaison, Office of 
Management Services, Economic Development Administration, Department of 
Commerce, HCHB Room 7227, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20230; telephone: (202) 482-4965; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    EDA's mission is to lead the federal economic development agenda by 
promoting innovation and competitiveness, preparing American regions 
for growth and success in the worldwide economy. EDA will fulfill its 
mission by fostering entrepreneurship, innovation and productivity 
through investments in infrastructure development, capacity building 
and business development in order to attract private capital 
investments and higher-skill, higher-wage jobs to regions experiencing 
substantial and persistent economic distress. EDA's investments 
generally take the form of grants or cooperative agreements with 
eligible recipients. To effectively administer and monitor its economic 
development assistance programs, EDA collects certain information from 
applicants for, and recipients of, EDA investment assistance.
    Beginning November 7, 2003, all federal agencies are required to 
post their grant opportunity announcements at www.grants.gov. In FY 
2007, the Office of Management and Budget required all federal agencies 
to post applicable financial assistance applications at www.grants.gov, 
enabling applicants to submit applications electronically through the 
Web site. For most of its economic development programs, EDA requires 
eligible applicants to submit a completed Pre-Application for 
Investment Assistance (Form ED-900P, OMB Control No. 0610-0094). Once 
the appropriate EDA regional office considers the ED-900P, it may 
invite the applicant to submit the full Application for Investment 
Assistance (Form ED-900A, OMB Control No. 0610-0094). This is the first 
year that EDA is able to receive pre-applications submitted 
electronically through www.grants.gov, which has alerted the agency to 
problems with its two-step application process. The www.grants.gov 
portal does not support the use of a pre-application followed by a 
subsequent application. The current process is burdensome and 
difficult, if not impossible, to implement on www.grants.gov because 
EDA's current pre-application package consists of Forms ED-900P and SF-
424 (Application for Financial Assistance), and various attachments and 
exhibits which the applicant must include to complete the submission. 
If EDA later invites the applicant to submit a full application, the 
applicant must download the application (Form ED-900A) from EDA's Web 
site at http://www.eda.gov, and re-submit the Form SF-424. Hence, the 
current process is duplicative, inefficient and time-consuming for the 
applicant.
    EDA's solution to this problem is to create a single-step 
application for investment assistance by combining into one application 
pertinent information requested from the applicant in the pre-
application and application. The single-step application will remove 
the need for some of the additional attachments currently required in 
the pre-application and will allow the applicant to use electronically 
fillable forms that can be posted on www.grants.gov. This solution 
requires no new system development work on EDA's existing grants 
management system, so it does not conflict with the Grants Management 
Line of Business initiative, begun in Spring 2004.
    This initiative seeks to develop a government-wide solution to 
support end-to-end grants management activities that promote citizen 
access, customer service, and agency financial and

[[Page 20504]]

technical stewardship. Rather, EDA's single-step application will make 
www.grants.gov a single access point for eligible applicants to 
electronically find and apply for its competitive grant opportunities.
    This information collection is necessary to determine the 
applicant's eligibility for investment assistance under EDA's 
authorizing statute, the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 
1965, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3121 et seq.), and regulations (13 CFR 
Chapter III); the quality of the proposed scope of work to address the 
pressing economic distress of the region in which the proposed project 
will be located; the merits of the activities for which the investment 
assistance is requested; and the ability of the eligible applicant to 
carry out the proposed activities successfully.

II. Method of Collection

    Paper or electronically.

III. Data

    OMB Number: 0610-0094.
    Form Number: EDA-900A.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: State and local governments; Indian tribes; 
institutions of higher education; non-profit institutions; business or 
other for-profit organizations; individuals or households.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 875.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 40 hours (current burden for forms ED-
900P and ED-900A is 46 hours).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 35,000.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: April 19, 2007.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E7-7832 Filed 4-24-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-24-P