[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 130 (Thursday, July 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32896-32898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-16298]


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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 Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance 
Division, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of 
Management, 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 July 
13, 2009. A regular clearance process is also beginning. Interested 
persons are invited to submit comments on or before September 8, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Written comments regarding the emergency review should be 
addressed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Attention: Education Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, 725 
17th Street, NW., Room 10222, New Executive Office Building, 
Washington, DC 20503 or faxed to (202) 395-6974 or electronically 
mailed to [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

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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 Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance 
Division, Regulatory Information Management Services, Office of 
Management, 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: July 6, 2009.
James Hyler,
Acting Director, Director, IC Clearance Official, Regulatory 
Information Management Services, Office of Management.

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

    Type of Review: New.
    Title: Requests for Title I, part A Waivers.
    Abstract: The U.S. Department of Education (ED) plans to issue 
guidance inviting requests for waivers related to the use of fiscal 
year (FY) 2009 Title I, part A funds available through the American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and requests for waivers 
related to certain Title I, part A statutory and regulatory provisions. 
The guidance will provide information for State educational agencies 
(SEAs) on how they may apply to ED for waivers and information for 
local educational agencies (LEAs) on how they may implement the waivers 
obtained by their SEA.
    Additional Information: ED is requesting that the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) approve these information requests on an 
emergency basis, by July 13, 2009. Approval of these information 
requests will enable ED to consider requests to waive certain statutory 
requirements that relate to the use of Title I, part A ARRA funds. The 
information collections relate to the information that must be 
submitted to ED as part of a waiver request, as required by section 
9401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
    In addition, the Secretary has reviewed the Title I, part A 
regulations that were issued in October 2008 (73 FR 64436 (Oct. 29, 
2008)) and sent a letter to all Chief State School Officers discussing 
those regulations. In that letter, the Secretary indicates that he will 
consider requests for waivers of certain Title I, part A regulatory 
provisions, in accordance with his authority under section 9401 of the 
ESEA. First, as noted in the letter, the Secretary intends to propose 
for public comment in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) a repeal 
of the provision that prohibits a State from approving as a provider of 
supplemental educational services (SES) a school identified for 
improvement, corrective action, or restructuring or a district 
identified for improvement or corrective action (34 CFR 
200.47(b)(1)(iv)(A), (B)). While the rulemaking process is on-going, 
the Secretary will consider a request to waive this requirement for 
school year (SY) 2009-10. Such a waiver would allow a State to approve 
as an SES provider a district or school in improvement. Second, the 
Secretary also will consider a request for a one-year waiver of the 
requirement to provide notice of public school choice at least 14 days 
before the start of the school year if districts cannot comply with 
that requirement because of their State's current assessment timeline 
or contract with its assessment vendor. Third, although not discussed 
in the Secretary's letter to Chief State School Officers, the Secretary 
will consider requests for waivers that would allow an LEA to provide 
SES to eligible students attending schools in the first year of 
improvement and to count the funds providing SES to those students 
toward the LEA's obligation to spend an amount at least equal to 20 
percent of its Title I, part A allocation on SES and public school 
choice-related transportation (20 percent obligation). Such a waiver 
would waive the provisions in section 1116(b)(10) of the ESEA and 34 
CFR 200.48 that limit the funds spent on SES that an LEA may count 
toward its 20 percent obligation to funds spent providing SES to 
eligible students attending schools in the second year of improvement, 
in corrective action, or in restructuring.
    Additionally, the Secretary will also consider requests to waive 
the maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements in sections 1120A(a) and 
9521 of the ESEA.
    With respect to requests for waivers related to the Title I, part A 
ARRA funds, LEAs are already working with their SEAs to plan Title I, 
part A activities for next year. Planning for a Title I, part A program 
typically occurs in the spring and summer prior to the next school 
year. Consequently, in order to plan effectively and on schedule, SEAs 
and LEAs cannot wait until right before the school year starts to know 
how to obtain these waivers. OMB approval on an emergency basis would 
enable ED to provide SEAs and LEAs with timely information about 
waivers of certain Title I, part A requirements--information that will 
be necessary as SEAs and LEAs make crucial decisions about how they 
will most effectively use Title I, part A funds, including those 
available under the ARRA, during summer 2009 and in SY 2009-10. If 
emergency clearance is not granted, ED will not be able to provide the 
waiver request information to SEAs and LEAs in time for them to plan 
successfully. And without proper planning, Title I, part A services to 
academically at-risk students, including those supported by the ARRA, 
would suffer.
    Similarly, now that States have received the Secretary's letter 
regarding the Title I regulations, as soon as possible they need to 
understand the process for how to request a waiver and what information 
will be required to accompany that request. The Secretary's letter 
indicates that ED will provide additional information about the process 
for submitting a waiver request and this waiver guidance keeps that 
commitment. The waiver process must begin at this time in order for 
States and LEAs to plan for their implementation of the public school 
choice notice requirement for SY 2009-10. In addition, if a school or 
LEA in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring is going to be 
able to be approved as an SES provider for SY 2009-10, a waiver must be 
granted before a State completes its process for approving SES 
providers, or with sufficient time for the State to reopen

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that process, if it chooses to do so. Likewise, the process for 
requesting waivers related to the provision of SES to eligible students 
attending Title I schools in the first year of improvement must begin 
at this time in order for LEAs to have sufficient time to appropriately 
plan their implementation of SES. In all three cases, without emergency 
approval, States and LEAs will not be able to take advantage of the 
flexibility the Secretary is offering regarding these provisions for 
the upcoming school year because ED would not be able to provide 
information regarding how to apply for a waiver until it is too late.
    Concerning MOE, in accordance with ED's MOE regulations for ESEA 
programs (including Title I, part A) covered by the MOE requirements, 
States will soon begin identifying those LEAs that failed to maintain 
effort in SY 2008-09. Section 9521(c) of the ESEA gives the Secretary 
the authority to waive the MOE requirements if an LEA experiences an 
exceptional or uncontrollable circumstance or experiences a precipitous 
decline in its financial resources. Due to the state of the economy 
during SY 2008-09, ED expects many more LEAs will have experienced a 
precipitous decline in their financial resources or an exceptional or 
uncontrollable circumstance than in prior years, causing them to miss 
maintaining effort and in turn to seek an MOE waiver from ED. Given 
these circumstances, the planned waiver guidance specifies the process 
States may use to obtain MOE waivers from ED for their LEAs. In order 
for this process to begin in a timely fashion, ED needs emergency 
approval of the information collection activities in the guidance 
associated with MOE waivers.
    Frequency: One time.
    Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal Government.
    Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour Burden:

Responses: 947.
Burden Hours: 29,640.

    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 4002. When 
you access the information collection, click on ``Download 
Attachments'' to view. Written requests for information should be 
addressed to U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 
LBJ, Washington, DC 20202-4537. Requests may also be electronically 
mailed to the Internet address [email protected] or faxed to 202-401-
0920. Please specify the complete title of the information collection 
when making your request.
    Comments regarding burden and/or the collection activity 
requirements should be electronically mailed to [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. E9-16298 Filed 7-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P