[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 217 (Thursday, November 8, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66958-66959]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-27327]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No. ED-2012-ICCD-0049]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Form 
for Maintenance of Effort Waiver Requests Under the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965, As Amended

AGENCY: Department of Education (ED), Office of Elementary and 
Secondary Education (OESE).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing an extension of an 
existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
January 7, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in response to this notice should be 
submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov by selecting Docket ID number ED-2012-ICCD-
0049 or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. Please 
note that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after 
the comment period will not be accepted. Written requests for 
information or comments submitted by postal mail or delivery should be 
addressed to the Director of the Information Collection Clearance 
Division, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, LBJ, 
Room 2E117, Washington, DC 20202-4537.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Electronically mail 
[email protected]. Please do not send comments here.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Education (ED), in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with 
an opportunity to comment on proposed,

[[Page 66959]]

revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps the 
Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements 
and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public 
understand the Department's information collection requirements and 
provide the requested data in the desired format. ED is soliciting 
comments on the proposed information collection request (ICR) that is 
described below. 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 the respondents, including through the use of information 
technology. Please note that written comments received in response to 
this notice will be considered public records.
    Title of Collection: Form for Maintenance of Effort Waiver Requests 
Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.
    OMB Control Number: 1810-0693.
    Type of Review: Extension of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal Governments.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 202.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 5,360
    Abstract: Section 9521(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) provides that a local educational agency 
(LEA) may receive funds under Title I, Part A and other ESEA covered 
programs for any fiscal year only if the State educational agency (SEA) 
finds that either the combined fiscal effort per student or the 
aggregate expenditures of the LEA with respect to the provision of free 
public education by the LEA for the preceding fiscal year was not less 
than 90 percent of the combined fiscal effort or aggregate expenditures 
for the second preceding fiscal year. This provision is the maintenance 
of effort (MOE) requirement for LEAs under the ESEA. If an LEA fails to 
meet the MOE requirement, under section 9521(b) of the ESEA, the SEA 
must reduce the amount of funds allocated under the programs covered by 
the MOE requirement in any fiscal year in the exact proportion by which 
the LEA fails to maintain effort by falling below 90 percent of either 
the combined fiscal effort per student or aggregate expenditures. In 
reducing an LEA's allocation because it failed to meet the MOE 
requirement, the SEA uses the measure most favorable to the LEA. 
Section 9521(c) gives ED the authority to waive the ESEA's MOE 
requirement for an LEA if it would be equitable to grant the waiver due 
to an exceptional or uncontrollable circumstance such as a natural 
disaster or a precipitous decline in the LEA's financial resources. 
Once an MOE waiver is granted, the reduction required by section 
9521(b) does not occur for that year. To review MOE waiver requests, ED 
relies primarily on expenditure, revenue, and other data relevant to an 
LEA's request provided by the SEA. To assist SEAs with submitting this 
information, ED developed an MOE waiver form as part of the 2009 Title 
I, Part A Waiver Guidance, which covered a range of waivers that ED 
invited at that time. The purpose of this collection is to renew 
approval for the MOE waiver form. ED believes that the proposed form, 
which is slightly modified from the currently approved version, will 
enable an SEA to provide the information needed in an efficient manner.

    Dated: November 2, 2012.
Darrin A. King,
Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Privacy, 
Information and Records Management Services, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2012-27327 Filed 11-7-12; 8:45 am]
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