[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 180 (Tuesday, September 21, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52545-52546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20363]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Docket No. DOT-OST-2021-0038]


Agency Request for Renewal and Revision of a Previously Approved 
Information Collection: Information Associated With the Aviation 
Manufacturing Jobs Protection (AMJP) Program

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public comments 
about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) approval to renew and revise an information collection. The DOT 
is seeking public comment under normal Paperwork Reduction Act 
procedures to continue the collection entitled ``Aviation Manufacturing 
Jobs Protection,'' which was approved under an emergency clearance 
approval by OMB through November 30, 2021. The purpose of the original 
information collection was to enable eligible business entities to 
apply for payroll assistance under the ``Aviation Manufacturing Jobs 
Protection'' program, established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 
2021. The continued information collection is necessary to ensure that 
eligible recipients continue to meet eligibility requirements and are 
compliant with use of funds to provide payroll support for the 
established eligible employee group. The continued information 
collection will also seek voluntary demographic information for program 
evaluation purposes. We are required to publish this notice in the 
Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by November 22, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number DOT-OST-2021-0038 using any of 
the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Operations; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., 
Eastern time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name 
and docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments, 
see the Public Participation heading below. Note that all comments 
received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act 
heading below.
     Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form 
of all comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the 
individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted 
on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may 
review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement for the Federal Docket 
Management System published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2008 
(73 FR 3316), or you may visit https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E8-785.
     Public Participation: The Federal eRulemaking Portal is 
available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can obtain 
electronic submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the 
``help'' section of the Federal eRulemaking Portal website. If you want 
us to notify you that we received your comments, please include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard, or print the acknowledgement 
page that appears after submitting comments online.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Information related to this 
Information Collection Request, including applicable supporting 
documentation may be obtained by contacting Alexus Jenkins-Reid (OST-
B1), in the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, via telephone at (202) 366-5112, or 
via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    OMB Control Number: 2106-0048.
    Title: Information Associated With the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs 
Protection (AMJP) Program.
    Form Numbers: New Forms AMJP-1A.2.2, AMJP-1A.2.3, AMJP-1A.2.4, 
AMJP-1A.6.4, AMJP-1A.6.5, AMJP-1A.6.6, AMJP-1A6.7 (available at 
www.transportation.gov/amjp/resources-recipients).
    Type of Review: Renewal and revision of Information Collection 
previously approved.
    Background: On March 11, 2021, the ``American Rescue Plan Act of 
2021'' (ARPA), Public Law (Pub. L.) 117-2, was enacted. Sections 7201 
and 7202 established the ``Aviation

[[Page 52546]]

Manufacturing Jobs Protection'' (AMJP) program. The stated purpose of 
the program is ``to provide public contributions to supplement 
compensation of an eligible employee group'' (which is defined in the 
statute), by entering into agreements with qualifying business entities 
to pay up to half of the payroll costs for that group of employees for 
up to six months, in return for several commitments, including a 
commitment that the company will not involuntarily furlough or lay off 
employees within that group. Individual employees (including contract 
employees) are not eligible to apply for assistance under this program.
    Application for assistance under the AMJP was voluntary. No 
business was required to apply. To be eligible, however, businesses 
were required to meet all the requirements set forth in the law. 
Therefore, DOT was required to collect certain information from 
applicants to determine eligibility. DOT must also verify the accuracy 
of specific payment requests from approved applicants, in accordance 
with other laws and regulations governing Federal financial assistance 
programs, including (but not limited to) the Antideficiency Act, the 
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA), the 
Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019, and applicable provisions in 
2 CFR part 200, among others.
    The ARPA required DOT to reduce funding on a pro rata basis if 
eligible requests exceeded available funds. Therefore, DOT planned to 
conduct a single-round, expedited application process to identify all 
eligible requests before beginning the award process.
    Accordingly, DOT developed a process and system to enable 
businesses to apply for financial assistance under the AMJP. DOT used 
an online, web-based system to collect the information outlined in the 
notice at 86 FR 19695.
    DOT subsequently announced the beginning of the application process 
on June 14, 2021, via notice at 86 FR 31573. DOT posted the application 
instructions online at https://www.transportation.gov/AMJP/apply. The 
application process was open for four weeks, from June 14, 2021 through 
July 13, 2021. DOT subsequently reopened the application process for 
another four-week period ending September 1, 2021.
    Now that the application process is complete, DOT is renewing and 
updating this information collection. DOT will continue to require 
eligible recipients to attest that they continue to meet all the 
original eligibility requirements as previously outlined, as well as 
the following information:
     A sworn certification as to the complete and accurate 
nature of all information provided, including all supporting 
documentation, subject to civil or criminal penalties. The specific 
certification language is in the forms referenced above and section 4.8 
of the General Terms And Conditions Under The Aviation Manufacturing 
Jobs Protection Program.\1\
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    \1\ See https://www.transportation.gov/amjp/resources-recipients 
for text of a sample AMJP agreement, including the General Terms and 
Conditions.
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     After DOT determines eligibility and enters into an 
agreement with the applicant (referred to hereafter as ``the 
recipient''), DOT will also require the recipient to provide the actual 
aggregate total cost of compensation for the Eligible Employee Group 
during the period of the agreement with DOT, in order for DOT to review 
and approve actual disbursements pursuant to the agreement. Recipients 
will be required to provide supporting documentation in sufficient 
detail to substantiate the actual costs, specifically excluding any 
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for any individual employees. 
Recipients will also be required to provide additional supporting 
information and certifications in support of disbursement requests. See 
Forms AMJP-1A-6.4, AMJP-1A-6.6, and AMJP-1A-6.7.
     DOT may also ask recipient businesses to submit voluntary 
reports regarding demographic data associated with the workforce that 
is and is not included in the Eligible Employee Group. This would be 
voluntary on the part of the employer, and based solely on voluntary 
data self-reported by employees, disaggregated from any Personally 
Identifiable Information in order to avoid any potential privacy 
concerns. If a statistically valid sample can be developed, then it may 
be possible to extrapolate for reporting and program evaluation 
purposes. Such information may be used to support program evaluation.
     DOT may also ask recipient businesses to identify how they 
first learned about the AMJP program. Such information may be useful in 
implementation of future financial assistance programs.
    DOT has updated the following estimated public burden figures based 
on the actual number of applications received as well as observations 
during the application review process. In order to help reduce the 
burden on recipients (and particularly on small businesses), DOT 
decided to make an initial disbursement shortly after award of each 
agreement. The initial disbursement is up to 50 percent of the award 
amount. This provides the recipient businesses with an immediate cash 
infusion, while also reducing the total number of disbursements and the 
cumulative paperwork required. DOT announced this decision in the 
application package published on June 15, 2021.
    Respondents: Eligible business entities in the aviation 
manufacturing, maintenance, repair, and overhaul services based in the 
United States.
    Number of Respondents: 600.
    Frequency: Up to two disbursement requests and one final closeout 
report (including supporting payroll documentation and reporting 
requirements).
    Total Annual Burden: Total burden, 16,800 hours (28 hours per 
respondent including 4 hours for each of 2 disbursement requests; 14 
hours for required forms; 2 hours for voluntary demographic data; and 4 
hours for closeout documentation).
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the Department's 
performance; (b) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for the 
Department to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the 
information collection; and (d) ways that the burden could be minimized 
without reducing the quality of the collected information. The agency 
will summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's 
clearance of this information collection.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 16, 2021.
Brian Elliott Black,
Program Director, Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection (AMJP) 
Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-20363 Filed 9-20-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P