[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3410-3411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-00776]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

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


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; 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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
February 15, 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, 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: Revision of an existing collection of information.
    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 the U.S. Department of Education (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

[[Page 3411]]

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: January 9, 2013.
Tomakie Washington,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Privacy, 
Information and Records Management Services, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2013-00776 Filed 1-15-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P