[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 82 (Thursday, April 29, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22633-22635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-9942]


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RECOVERY ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY BOARD


Proposed Information Collection

ACTION: Notice of submission to OMB and 30-day public comment period.

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SUMMARY: Under provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D)) and 5 CFR Part 1320, the Recovery Accountability 
and Transparency Board (Board) invites public comments on a revision of 
a currently approved collection of information (OMB number 0430-0004).

[[Page 22634]]


DATES: Public comments on this Information Collection Request (ICR) 
will be accepted on or before June 1, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Send all comments to Sharon Mar, Desk Officer for the 
Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, Office of Management 
and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503; fax 
202-395-5167; or e-mail to [email protected].

Comments Received on the 60-Day Federal Register Notice

    On June 18, 2009, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) through 
its emergency review process approved the Board's ICR titled ``Section 
1512 Data Standards.'' On August 7, 2009, the Board published a 60-Day 
Notice to solicit comments on the ICR in the Federal Register (74 FR 
39605). Due to subsequent changes in the data elements requested 
pursuant to OMB Guidance (M-09-21, June 22, 2009), on August 27, 2009, 
the Board submitted to OMB a revised ICR titled ``Section 1512 Data 
Elements--Federal Financial Assistance,'' requesting approval. On 
September 10, 2009, OMB, through its emergency review process, approved 
the ICR. On October 8, 2009, the Board published in the Federal 
Register another 60-Day Notice to solicit comments on the revised ICR 
(74 FR 51884). The comment period closed on December 7, 2009.
    On December 18, 2009, OMB issued new Recovery Act guidance (M-10-
08). This guidance, in part, included a new methodology that recipients 
were to use in calculating the jobs data requested by section 1512 of 
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). 
Accordingly, the Board revised its ICR, and OMB approved the revised 
ICR on December 31, 2009. OMB further advised that another 60-Day 
Notice for the ICR would not be required. Instead, the Board is 
submitting the ICR to OMB and opening the 30-day public notice and 
comment period.
    The Board received four comments in response to its 60-Day Federal 
Register Notices. One commenter, a hospital, stated it anticipates that 
the level of detail required to be reported and the frequency 
(quarterly) of required reporting will be overly burdensome. This 
commenter suggested that the reporting requirements be limited to not 
more than twice a year, that sub-recipient participation be minimized, 
and that no information be requested on vendors. The commenter further 
suggested that only basic information from prime recipients on their 
sub-recipients should be reported (DUNS, location, amount of award, 
amount expensed); that information on the most highly compensated 
officers of non-profit institutions should be eliminated from 
reporting; and that information on research supplies paid to vendors is 
excessively burdensome and should be eliminated. These suggestions are 
beyond the statutory or regulatory authority of the Board, which 
oversees the reporting mandated by Congress, as implemented by OMB.
    A second comment was received requesting that OMB allow the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to grant a waiver to 
Project-Based Section 8 owners from the Section 1512 reporting 
requirements. The Board understands that OMB, through HUD, has granted 
this request on the grounds that the Project-Based Rental Assistance 
Program is tantamount to an individual benefits program.
    A third comment was submitted by an association of 180 research 
universities and their affiliated academic medical centers and research 
institutions concerning the annual and quarterly burden associated with 
section 1512 reporting. The association states that it performed an 
analysis to estimate the burden associated with section 1512 reporting, 
focusing on those research institutions which may receive hundreds of 
Recovery Act awards. The association concluded that the burden 
associated with each Recovery Act award would be approximately 11.5 
hours per quarter. The association's quarterly estimation included time 
devoted to ``accumulating data, analyzing data quality, data entry into 
FederalReporting.gov, etc.'' Given the implementation of a copy-forward 
feature on the data submitted into FederalReporting.gov, however, it is 
likely that little data--aside from jobs reporting and project status 
updates--will need to be accumulated or entered into 
FederalReporting.gov on a quarterly basis. The Board did take into 
account the association's note that, of Recovery Act recipients who 
receive upwards of 15 awards, some will be major research institutions 
that receive hundreds of awards. As of the date the 60-Day Notice 
comment period had closed, of the recipients who received 15 or more 
Recovery Act awards, the average number of awards was approximately 70 
per recipient. The Board therefore revised its estimates to account for 
these larger institutions.
    The association also commented on ``ways for the Board to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information being collected,'' 
concluding that administrative cost relief for colleges and 
universities similar to that provided to the States would help those 
recipients meet the monitoring and reporting requirements of the 
Recovery Act. The Board believes that the administrative cost issues 
are more properly addressed to OMB, as the Board lacks authority to 
effect changes in that regard.
    A fourth comment letter was submitted by a university grants 
office. A number of the university's comments dealt with the frequency 
and depth of reporting and would therefore be more appropriately 
addressed to OMB or Congress rather than the Board. The university did 
raise the matter of time burdens, stating that ``[f]or the initial set-
up, organization and work flow design, [it] spent in excess of 400 
hours for the initial 162 awards'' received. (This comes out to 
approximately 2.5 hours spent per award for the initial entry of each 
award.) As noted by the association in its comments referenced above, 
the university stated that it had received more than 100 Recovery 
awards. As explained above, the Board has accordingly revised its 
estimates to incorporate the heavier time burden experienced by 
entities receiving numerous awards.
    The university also noted that ``[t]here is a considerable amount 
of one time and static information required to be reported that could 
be requested once. This information could then be used to automatically 
populate the actual award spreadsheet.'' This suggestion is a good one, 
and, as explained, the Board has implemented such a solution with the 
copy-forward feature added to FederalReporting.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title of Collection: Section 1512 Data Elements--Federal Financial 
Assistance.
    OMB Control No.: 0430-0004.
    Description: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
(Pub. L. 111-5, 123 Stat. 115 (2009)) (Recovery Act) established the 
Board and required that the Board establish and maintain a public-
facing Web site to track covered funds. Section 1512 of the Recovery 
Act requires recipients of Federal financial assistance--namely, 
grants, cooperative agreements, contracts and loans--to report on the 
use of funds. These reports are to be submitted to 
FederalReporting.gov, and certain information from these reports will 
later be posted on the public-facing Web site Recovery.gov. More 
specifically, prime recipients, sub-recipients, and vendors who receive 
Recovery Act funds are required to submit section 1512 data

[[Page 22635]]

elements as set forth in the Recipient Reporting Data Dictionary 
(available electronically at https://www.federalreporting.gov/federalreporting/downloads.do). On June 22, 2009, OMB issued the 
following reporting guidance in its ``Implementing Guidance for the 
Reports on Use of Funds Pursuant to the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009'' (M-09-21):
    Prime Recipients: The prime recipient is ultimately responsible for 
the reporting of all data required by section 1512 of the Recovery Act 
and the OMB Guidance, including the Federal Funding Accountability and 
Transparency Act (FFATA) data elements for the sub-recipients of the 
prime recipient required under section 1512(c)(4). In addition, the 
prime recipient must report three additional data elements associated 
with any vendors receiving funds from the prime recipient for any 
payments greater than $25,000. Specifically, the prime recipient must 
report the identity of the vendor by reporting the DUNS number, the 
amount of the payment, and a description of what was obtained in 
exchange for the payment. If the vendor does not have a DUNS number, 
then the name and zip code of the vendor's headquarters will be used 
for identification.
    Sub-Recipients of the Prime Recipient: The sub-recipients of the 
prime recipient may be required by the prime recipient to report the 
FFATA data elements required under section 1512(c)(4) for payments from 
the prime recipient to the sub-recipient. The reporting sub-recipients 
must also report one data element associated with any vendors receiving 
funds from that sub-recipient. Specifically, the sub-recipient must 
report, for any payments greater than $25,000, the identity of the 
vendor by reporting the DUNS number, if available, or otherwise the 
name and zip code of the vendor's headquarters.
    Required Data: The specific data elements to be reported by prime 
recipients and sub-recipients are included in the Recipient Reporting 
Data Dictionary. Below are the basic reporting requirements to be 
reported on prime recipients, recipient vendors, sub-recipients, and 
sub-recipient vendors. Where noted, the information is not entered by 
the recipient but rather is derived from another source:

Prime Recipient

 1.. Funding Agency Code
 2. Awarding Agency Code
 3. Program Source (TAS)
 4. Award Number
 5. Order Number
 6. Recipient DUNS Number
 7. Parent DUNS (derived from CCR)
 8. Recipient Type (derived from CCR)
 9. CFDA Number
 10. Government Contracting Office Code
 11.. Recipient Congressional District
 12. Recipient Account Number
 13. Final Report (not FFATA)
 14. Award Type
 15. Award Date
 16. Award Description
 17. Project Name or Project/Program Title
 18. Quarterly Activities/Project
 19. Project Status
 20. Activity Code (NAICS) or NTEE-NPC)
 21. Number of Jobs
 22. Descriptions of Jobs Created/Retained
 23. Amount of Award
 24. Total Federal Amount ARRA Funds Received/Invoiced
 25. Total Federal Amount of ARRA Expenditure
 26. Total Federal ARRA Infrastructure Expenditure
 27. Infrastructure Purpose and Rationale
 28. Infrastructure Contact Information
 29. Recipient Primary Place of Performance
 30. Recipient Officer Names and Compensation (if applicable)
 31. Total Number of Sub-Awards to Individuals
 32. Total Amount of Sub-Awards to Individuals
 33. Total Number of Payments to Vendors Less Than $25,000/Award
 34. Total Amount of Payments to Vendors Less Than $25,000/Award
 35. Total Number of Sub-Awards Less Than $25,000/Award
 36. Total Amount of Sub-Awards Less Than $25,000/Award

Sub-Recipient

 1. Sub-Recipient DUNS
 2. Sub-Award Number
 3. Sub-Recipient Name and Address (derived from CCR)
 4. Sub-Recipient Congressional District
 5. Amount of Subward
 6. Total Subaward Funds Disbursed
 7. Sub-Award Date
 8. Sub-Recipient Place of Performance
 9. Sub-Recipient Officer Names and Compensation (if applicable)

Vendor

 1. Award Number--Prime Recipient Vendor
 2. Subaward Number--Sub-Recipient Vendor
 3. Vendor DUNS Number
 4. Vendor HQ Zip Code + 4
 5. Vendor Name
 6. Product and Service Description
 7. Payment Amount

    Affected Public: Recipients, as defined in section 1512(b)(1) of 
the Recovery Act, of Recovery funds (specifically, Federal financial 
assistance).
    Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 80,000.
    Frequency of Responses: Quarterly.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 2,720,000.

Ivan Flores,
Paralegal Specialist, Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.
[FR Doc. 2010-9942 Filed 4-28-10; 8:45 am]
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