[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 189 (Monday, September 30, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51707-51708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21109]


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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--Evaluation of Fees on SBA's Surety Bond Guarantee 
Program

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

ACTION: 60-Day Federal Register notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: SBA intends to request approval from the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for the collection of information described below. The 
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 requires federal agencies to 
publish a notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed 
collection of information before submission to OMB and to allow 60 days 
for public comment in response to the notice. This notice complies with 
that requirement.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 29, 
2019.

ADDRESSES: Comments are invited on (a) whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the agency to properly perform its 
functions; (b) whether the burden estimates are accurate; (c) whether 
there are ways to minimize the burden, including through the use of 
automated techniques or other forms of information technology; and (d) 
whether there are ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information.
    Comments may be sent to Terrell Lasane (Lead Program Evaluator), 
U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street SW, Washington, DC 
20416. Comments will also be accepted through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov, and follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments electronically.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments will be a matter of public 
record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of this information collection should be directed to Terrell 
Lasane at 202-205-7111.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Evaluation of Fees on SBA's Surety Bond Guarantee Program.
    Form Number: N/A.
    OMB Number: Not Yet Assigned.
    Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined.
    Type of Request: New Collection.
    Abstract: Under the Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) Program, SBA 
guarantees bid, payment, and performance bonds for small and emerging 
contractors who cannot obtain surety bonds through regular commercial 
channels. SBA's guarantee gives Sureties an incentive to provide 
bonding for small businesses and, thereby, assists small businesses in 
obtaining greater access to contracting opportunities. SBA's guarantee 
is an agreement between a surety and SBA that SBA will assume a certain 
percentage of the Surety's loss should a contractor default on the 
underlying contract. On July 30, 2018, SBA announced a change in the 
fee structure for its SBG Program (83 FR 36658, page 36658-36659). The 
fee reductions were implemented on October 1, 2018, decreasing the 
surety fee from a 26 percent to a 20 percent bond premium and 
decreasing the Principal fee from $7.29 per thousand dollars of the 
contract amount to $6.00 per thousand dollars of the contract amount. 
Originally scheduled for 1 year, SBA extended the fee reduction until 
September 30, 2020 in effort to collect more data to fully evaluate the 
effect(s) of lower fees on the SBG Program (83 FR 40466, page 40466-
40467).
    Given that the fee structure has not changed for the last 12 years, 
SBA would like to evaluate the quantitative impacts of the change on 
the SBG Program. To properly evaluate the impacts of the fee changes, a 
multi-method approach will be applied including two study components: 
(1) Statistical modeling and (2) a web-based survey. The statistical 
modeling portion of the study will evaluate possible impacts including 
changes in the utilization of the SBG Program (e.g., principals, surety 
firms, surety agents) and changes in the SBA's portfolio of guaranteed 
bonds (e.g., size, duration, risk, cash flow, geographic location, 
industrial classification) which may, in turn, result in longer term 
outcomes such as business formations, employment, and opportunities for 
small and disadvantaged businesses. The web survey portion will 
evaluate surety firms' and agents' perceptions of the fee reductions 
and their explanations of how these reductions affected their bonding 
practices and processes. Data collection efforts are required for the 
survey portion of the study, while administrative data will be used for 
the statistical modeling analysis.
    Affected Public: Respondent groups identified include (1) surety 
firms participating in the SBG Program and (2) surety agents 
participating in the SBG Program. The universe of both respondent types 
will be surveyed.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The total estimated number of 
respondents is 500. This includes 50 surety firms and 450 surety 
agents.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: Both participant 
types will be asked to participate in one survey.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 500.
    Estimated Time per Response: The estimated response time is 15 
minutes for both the surety firm and surety agent populations.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 7,500 minutes (125 
hours).

[[Page 51708]]



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                                                                                     Estimated
                                     Estimated       Responses     Total annual   average number     Estimated
           Respondent                number of     annually per      responses     of hours per     total hours
                                    respondents     respondent                       response
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Reporting Burden:
Surety firm.....................              50            1.00              50             .25            12.5
Surety agent....................             450            1.00             450             .25           112.5
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    Total Reporting Burden......             500  ..............             500  ..............             125
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Curtis Rich,
Agency Clearance Office.
[FR Doc. 2019-21109 Filed 9-27-19; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 8026-03-P