[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 15 (Monday, January 24, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4124-4125]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1348]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5486-N-01]


Notice of Proposed Information Collection for Public Comment: 
Notice of Funding Availability for the Transformation Initiative: 
Natural Experiment Grant Program

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and 
Research, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The proposed information collection requirement described 
below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department 
is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

DATES: Comment Due Date: March 25, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Comments should refer to the proposal by name and/or OMB 
Control Number and should be sent to: Michael Morse, Office of Policy 
Development and Research, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 
451 7th Street, SW., Room 8128, Washington, DC 20410-6000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Morse at (202) 402-5738 (this 
is not a toll-free number), for copies of the proposed forms and other 
available documents.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Housing and Urban 
Development will submit the proposed extension of information 
collection to OMB for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended). This Notice is 
soliciting comments from members of the public and affected agencies 
concerning the proposed collection of information to: (1) Evaluate 
whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (2) evaluate the accuracy 
of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (3) enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (4) minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on those who are to respond; including 
through the use of appropriate automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission 
of responses.
    This Notice also lists the following information:
    Title of Proposal: Transformation Initiative: Natural Experiment 
Grant Program.
    Description of Information Collection: This is a new information 
collection. The purpose of this effort is to provide funding to support 
scientific research that makes use of natural experiments to evaluate 
the impacts of local, State, and Federal policies. In Fiscal Year (FY) 
2010, approximately $600,000 has been made available for this program 
by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 
2010 (Pub. L. 111-117 approved December 16, 2009). This program is 
approved under HUD's research authority under

[[Page 4125]]

the Transition Initiative Fund. The maximum grant performance period is 
24 months. An applicant can request $100,000 to $250,000 per award, 
depending on the scope of the research proposed. Awards under this NOFA 
will be made in the form of a Cooperative Agreement. The actual Notice 
of Funding Availability (NOFA) will contain the selection criteria for 
awarding grants and specific requirements that will apply to selected 
grantees.
    OMB Control Number: None.
    Agency Form Numbers: SF-424, SF-424 Supplemental, HUD-424-CB, SF-
LLL, HUD-2880, HUD-2993, HUD-96010 and HUD-96011.  http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/program_offices/administration/hudclips/forms.
    Members of Affected Public: Nonprofit organizations, for profit 
organizations located in the U.S. (HUD will not pay fee or profit for 
the work conducted under this NOFA), foundations, think tanks, 
consortia, Institutions of higher education accredited by a national or 
regional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of 
Education and other entities that will sponsor a researcher, expert or 
analyst.
    Estimation of the total numbers of hours needed to prepare the 
information collection including number of respondents, frequency of 
responses, and hours of responses:
(1) Pre-Award
    HUD estimates that each applicant spends approximately 42 person-
hours to complete an application. Almost all of this time is invested 
by a professor or other senior administrator who would oversee the 
program. HUD estimates the mean hourly rate at $30. For 20 
applications, the computation is as follows: 20 applications x 42 hours 
x $30 per hours= $25,200.
(2) Post-Award
    HUD estimates that each grantee will spend approximately 6 hours a 
year maintaining records. HUD also estimates that each grantee will 
spend approximately 4 hours a year preparing monitoring reports. 
Clerical staff and faculty/supervisory staff will share this burden. 
HUD estimates the applicable hourly rate at $15. The computation is as 
follow: 5 grantees x 10 hours x $15 an hour = $750.

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   Description of information       Number of     Responses per   Total annual      Hours per
           collection              respondents        year          responses       response       Total hours
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SF424..........................              20               1              20            0.75             15
SF424 Supplement...............              20               1              20            0.08              1.6
HUD 424CB......................              20               1              20            3                60
SFLLL..........................              20               1              20            0.17              3.4
HUD 2880 (2510-0011)...........              20               1              20            0                 0
HUD 96010 (2535-0114)..........              20               1              20            3                60
Rating factor 1................              20               1              20            7               140
Rating factor 2................              20               1              20            7               140
Rating factor 3................              20               1              20            7               140
Rating factor 4................              20               1              20            7               140
Rating factor 5................              20               1              20            7               140
Subtotal (Application).........              20               1              20           42               840
Quarterly Reports..............               5               4              20            6               120
Record keeping.................               5  ..............               5            4                20
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    Total......................              20  ..............              40       Varies               980
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    Total Estimated Burden Hours: 980.
    Status of the proposed information collection: New collection.
    Status of the proposed information collection: Pending OMB 
approval.

    Authority:  U.S. Code Title 12 1701z; Research and 
demonstrations.

    Dated: January 13, 2011.
Raphael W. Bostic,
Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research.
[FR Doc. 2011-1348 Filed 1-21-11; 8:45 am]
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