[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 1 (Monday, January 3, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57-62]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-28376]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter II

[Docket ID ED-2021-OESE-0116]


Proposed Requirement--American Rescue Plan Act Elementary and 
Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Proposed requirement.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Education (Department) proposes a 
requirement for the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary 
School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) Fund, under the American Rescue 
Plan Act of 2021 (ARP Act). This requirement is intended to promote 
accountability and transparency by requiring each State educational 
agency (SEA) to post on its website maintenance of equity information 
for each applicable local educational agency (LEA).

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before February 2, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments submitted by fax or by email or those submitted after 
the comment period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, 
please submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the 
Docket ID at the top of your comments.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to 
submit your comments electronically. Information on using 
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, 
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site 
under ``FAQ.''
     Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you 
mail or deliver your comments about the proposed requirement, address 
them to U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 
3W113, Washington, DC 20202.
    Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments 
received from members of the public available for public viewing in 
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include 
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly 
available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Britt Jung, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 3W113, Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone: (202) 453-5563. Email: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll-free, at 1-
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Invitation to Comment: We invite you to 
submit comments regarding the proposed requirement. To ensure that your 
comments have maximum effect in developing the requirement, we urge you 
to clearly identify the specific section of the proposed requirement 
that each comment addresses.
    We invite you to assist us in complying with the specific 
requirements of Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 and their overall 
requirement of reducing regulatory burden that might result from the 
proposed requirement.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about the proposed requirement by accessing Regulations.gov. 
You may also inspect the comments in person. Please contact the person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT to make arrangements to 
inspect the comments in person.
    Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the 
Rulemaking Record: On request we will provide an appropriate 
accommodation or auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability who 
needs assistance to review the comments or other documents in the 
public rulemaking record for the proposed requirement. If you want to 
schedule an appointment for this type of accommodation or auxiliary 
aid, please contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT.
    Purpose of Program: The ARP ESSER Fund provides nearly $122 billion 
to

[[Page 58]]

SEAs and LEAs to help them safely reopen and sustain the safe operation 
of schools and address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by 
addressing students' academic, social, emotional, and mental health 
needs. As a condition of receiving the funds, each SEA and LEA must 
comply with multiple requirements, including the maintenance of equity 
requirements in section 2004 of the ARP Act.
    Program Authority: ARP Act, Public Law 117-2, March 11, 2021.
    Proposed Requirement: This document contains one proposed 
requirement.

Background

    The ARP Act provides nearly $122 billion via the ARP ESSER Fund to 
SEAs and LEAs to help schools return safely to in-person instruction; 
sustain the safe operation of schools; and address the academic, 
social, emotional, and mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic 
on the Nation's students. Under section 2004 of the ARP Act, SEAs and 
LEAs must meet new maintenance of equity requirements to receive funds 
under the ARP ESSER Fund. These provisions ensure that LEAs and schools 
serving a large share of students from low-income backgrounds do not 
experience a disproportionate share of reduced funding in fiscal years 
(FYs) 2022 and 2023, and that, for the highest-poverty LEAs, State 
funding is not decreased below their FY 2019 level. In addition, the 
maintenance of equity provisions ensure that each LEA safeguards its 
high-poverty schools from disproportionate cuts to funding and 
staffing. On August 6, 2021, the Department issued a Dear Colleague 
Letter (DCL) to Chief State School Officers and District School 
Superintendents emphasizing the importance of maintaining equity and 
addressing specific implementation challenges for FY 2022. On August 6, 
the Department also issued updated Frequently Asked Questions on the 
Maintenance of Equity Requirements (FAQs) \1\ providing detailed 
guidance on how each SEA and LEA can maintain equity and comply with 
the maintenance of equity provisions. In that guidance, the Department 
indicated that SEAs and LEAs should consider making maintenance of 
equity data publicly available.
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    \1\ See https://oese.ed.gov/files/2021/08/Maintenance-of-Equity-updated-FAQs_final_08.06.2021.pdf.
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    In Appendix A to the FAQs issued in June 2021 and updated on August 
6 and October 1, 2021, the Department required each SEA to report to it 
baseline and initial data on the State's high-need and highest-poverty 
LEAs. These data include: a list of the high-need LEAs; the statewide 
per-pupil amount of State funds provided to all LEAs in FYs 2021 and 
2022 as well as the per-pupil amount provided to each high-need LEA in 
those years; a list of the highest-poverty LEAs; and the per-pupil 
amount of State funds provided to each highest-poverty LEA in FYs 2019 
and 2022. In addition, each SEA was required to submit a list of the 
high-poverty schools in each LEA that must maintain equity in FY 2022. 
The Department is posting these data on its website at: https://oese.ed.gov/offices/american-rescue-plan/american-rescue-plan-elementary-and-secondary-school-emergency-relief/maintenance-of-equity/ 
and will update the website as new data become available. The 
Department also intends to collect SEA-level maintenance of equity data 
through each State's annual performance report and will make those data 
publicly available.
    Although data on State-level maintenance of equity will be 
available on the Department's website, there are not publicly available 
data for LEA-level maintenance of equity. Accordingly, on October 5, 
2021, the Department proposed a requirement \2\ to address this need 
for transparency and accountability consistent with the Department's 
policy goals of ensuring that schools serving large proportions of 
historically underserved groups of students--including students from 
low-income families, students of color, English learners, students with 
disabilities, migratory students, and students experiencing 
homelessness--receive an equitable share of State and local funds as 
the Nation continues to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 
pandemic on our education system. To support these goals, and to ensure 
public accountability for the implementation of the LEA-level 
maintenance of equity provisions of the ARP Act, the Department 
proposed to require that each SEA make publicly available information 
on how each LEA in the State is maintaining fiscal and staffing equity 
to meet the requirements of section 2004(c) of the ARP Act. Requiring 
that maintenance of equity data be publicly available would allow 
parents, families, and local communities to access information on how 
the LEA is maintaining equity for schools with high concentrations of 
students from low-income families. Additionally, public posting of data 
and information on how each LEA in the State is maintaining equity is 
an important accountability tool for SEAs and the Department.
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    \2\ www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/10/05/2021-21764/proposed-requirement-american-rescue-plan-act-elementary-and-secondary-school-emergency-relief-fund.
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    In response to the proposed requirement, the Department received 27 
comments from States, LEAs, and national organizations. After 
considering those comments and other stakeholder input, the Department 
proposes this significantly revised requirement.
    Many commenters recommended that the Department extend the 
reporting deadline to allow more time for SEAs and LEAs to prepare to 
meet the data reporting requirements and ensure more accurate 
reporting. The Department recognizes the concerns of grantees regarding 
accurate data reporting on a constricted timeline. As a result, the 
Department proposes to adjust the deadline to significantly extend the 
period for reporting data.
    In addition, multiple commenters strongly recommended allowing for 
increased flexibility in the reporting requirements to accommodate 
SEAs' and LEAs' different school finance reporting systems. In response 
to these comments, the Department proposes to specify expanded options 
available to SEAs for reporting data to allow an LEA to demonstrate 
that the LEA maintained equity by providing applicable per-pupil 
expenditure data where appropriate. Specifically, paragraph (d) of the 
proposed requirement permits an SEA and its LEAs, in meeting and 
reporting LEA-level maintenance of equity, to rely on the applicable 
per-pupil expenditure data required to be included on the State report 
card pursuant to section 1111(h)(1)(C)(x) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). This paragraph would provide an 
LEA additional flexibility in meeting the LEA-level maintenance of 
effort requirement by using expenditure data the LEA may already have 
available for reporting per-pupil expenditures under section 
1111(h)(1)(C)(x) of the ESEA without establishing new reporting 
systems.
    Finally, commenters expressed concern over the potential burden 
that these data reporting requirements would place on SEAs and LEAs, 
noting that systems may not be in place yet to collect and analyze the 
data and that developing such systems takes significant amounts of time 
and labor.
    The Department acknowledges these concerns and has addressed them 
through changes designed to achieve the

[[Page 59]]

benefit of sharing information on State and local funding in order to 
support students who have been subject to longstanding opportunity gaps 
in our education system.
    Under paragraph (c) of the proposed requirements, each State would 
be required to publish, by December 31 following each applicable school 
year, specific data regarding compliance with the LEA-level maintenance 
of equity requirements. We are specifically requesting comment on 
whether such data elements would be available on the proposed timeline 
and, if not, when such data would be available. We also solicit comment 
as to whether, in the alternative, States would be able to publish data 
on the same proposed timeline demonstrating how each LEA met the fiscal 
and staffing equity requirements generally, instead of the specific 
data elements in proposed paragraph (c), and whether it would achieve 
similar transparency objectives. Under this alternative approach, 
States would have additional flexibility in the data they use to 
demonstrate LEA compliance with the requirements, though such an 
approach could limit cross-State data comparability and provide less 
certainty for stakeholders regarding the types of data they may 
reasonably expect from their SEA on LEA implementation.
    Finally, given the proposed flexibilities in reporting on LEA-level 
maintenance of equity, the Department proposes in paragraph (b) that 
each SEA, by March 31, 2022 for FY 2022 which is the 2021-2022 school 
year and by November 1, 2022 for FY 2023 which is the 2022-2023 school 
year, publish on its website a description of how the SEA will ensure 
that each LEA that is not excepted from LEA-level maintenance of equity 
requirements is ensuring that its high-poverty schools are protected 
from any reduction of per-pupil funding by an amount that exceeds the 
overall per-pupil reduction in the LEA, if any, such that the LEA can 
make any necessary adjustments in a timely manner. This provision is 
designed to ensure an SEA has a process for determining that its LEAs 
actually maintain equity and, if the LEAs do not, are able to make any 
necessary adjustments in a timely manner.
    Several questions in the FAQs on LEA-level maintenance of equity 
(see generally Questions 22-32) address the data an SEA would report 
under this proposed requirement. For example, Question 32 discusses 
LEAs that may be excepted under proposed paragraph (a)(1) from meeting 
the LEA-level maintenance of equity requirements, including those LEAs 
that qualify as having exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances in 
FY 2022 due to the pandemic. (See also the August 6, 2021, DCL.) 
Similarly, Questions 23-25 clarify how to identify high-poverty schools 
under proposed paragraph (a)(2). Question 26 provides information 
applicable to proposed paragraphs (c)(1) and (2) and (d) on how the 
amount of per-pupil funding aligns with reporting on per-pupil 
expenditures under section 1111(h)(1)(C)(x) of the ESEA. Questions 28 
and 29 clarify how to determine full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff 
applicable to proposed paragraphs (c)(3) and (4). Finally, Questions 27 
and 30 address how to determine if an LEA has maintained equity in its 
high-poverty schools for proposed paragraph (c)(5).

Proposed Requirement

    (a) By March 31, 2022 for FY 2022 which is the 2021-2022 school 
year and by November 1, 2022 for FY 2023 which is the 2022-2023 school 
year, a State educational agency (SEA) must publish the following LEA-
level maintenance of equity data on its website:
    (1) The identity of each LEA in the State that is excepted from 
LEA-level maintenance of equity requirements under section 2004(c)(2) 
of the ARP Act for each of the following reasons:
    (i) The LEA has a total enrollment of less than 1,000 students.
    (ii) The LEA operates a single school.
    (iii) The LEA serves all students within each grade span with a 
single school.
    (iv) The LEA has notified the SEA that the LEA demonstrates an 
exceptional or uncontrollable circumstance under section 2004(c)(2)(D) 
of the ARP Act and has not implemented an aggregate reduction in 
combined State and local per-pupil funding.
    (v) The LEA has been granted an exception from LEA-level 
maintenance of equity requirements by the Department due to an 
exceptional or uncontrollable circumstance under section 2004(c)(2)(D) 
of the ARP Act and the Department has informed the SEA of this 
exception.
    (2) For each LEA that is not excepted from LEA-level maintenance of 
equity requirements as detailed in paragraph (a)(1), the schools in the 
LEA that are identified as ``high-poverty schools'' as defined in 
section 2004(d)(4) of the ARP Act.
    (b) By March 31, 2022 for FY 2022 which is the 2021-2022 school 
year and by November 1, 2022 for FY 2023 which is the 2022-2023 school 
year, each SEA must publish on its website a description of how the SEA 
will ensure that each LEA that is not excepted from LEA-level 
maintenance of equity requirements is ensuring that its high-poverty 
schools are protected from any reduction of per-pupil funding by an 
amount that exceeds the overall per-pupil reduction in the LEA, if any, 
such that the LEA can make any necessary adjustments in a timely 
manner.
    (c) By December 31 following each applicable school year (e.g., 
December 31, 2022, for FY 2022 which is the 2021-2022 school year) or 
such other date as the Department may approve upon request from an SEA 
due to the SEA's specific circumstances, an SEA must publish the 
following LEA-level maintenance of equity data on its website for each 
LEA in the State that is not excepted from LEA-level maintenance of 
equity requirements as detailed in paragraph (a)(1):
    (1) The per-pupil amount of funding for each high-poverty school in 
the LEA in FYs 2021, 2022, and 2023, as applicable for the year for 
which the data are published.
    (2) The per-pupil amount of funding in the aggregate for all 
schools in the LEA, on a districtwide basis or by grade span, in FYs 
2021, 2022, and 2023, as applicable for the year for which the data are 
published.
    (3) The per-pupil number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) staff for 
each high-poverty school in the LEA in FYs 2021, 2022, and 2023, as 
applicable for the year for which the data are published, which may 
also be indicated as the number of students per FTE staff.
    (4) The per-pupil number of FTE staff in the aggregate for all 
schools in the LEA, on a districtwide basis or by grade span, in FYs 
2021, 2022, and 2023, as applicable for the year for which the data are 
published, which may also be indicated as the number of students per 
FTEs.
    (5) Whether the LEA did not maintain equity for any high-poverty 
school in FY 2022 or 2023, as applicable for the year for which the 
data are published.
    (d) For the purpose of the reporting required in paragraph (c), an 
SEA and its LEAs may rely on the applicable per-pupil expenditure data 
required to be included on the State report card pursuant to section 
1111(h)(1)(C)(x) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
    (e) All data required to be published under paragraphs (a)-(d) must 
be published in a way that is machine-readable and accessible, in a 
location accessible for parents and families. LEA- and school-level 
data must be listed by the applicable National Center for Education 
Statistics LEA ID and school ID, where applicable.

[[Page 60]]

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

Regulatory Impact Analysis

    Under Executive Order 12866, the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) must determine whether this regulatory action is ``significant'' 
and, therefore, subject to the requirements of the Executive order and 
subject to review by OMB. Section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866 defines 
a ``significant regulatory action'' as an action likely to result in a 
rule that may--
    (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more, 
or adversely affect a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, 
jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or 
Tribal governments or communities in a material way (also referred to 
as an ``economically significant'' rule);
    (2) Create serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an 
action taken or planned by another agency;
    (3) Materially alter the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants, 
user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients 
thereof; or
    (4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal 
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles stated in the 
Executive Order.
    This proposed regulatory action is not a significant regulatory 
action subject to review by OMB under section 3(f) of Executive Order 
12866.
    We have also reviewed this proposed regulatory action under 
Executive Order 13563, which supplements and explicitly reaffirms the 
principles, structures, and definitions governing regulatory review 
established in Executive Order 12866. To the extent permitted by law, 
Executive Order 13563 requires that an agency--
    (1) Propose or adopt regulations only on a reasoned determination 
that their benefits justify their costs (recognizing that some benefits 
and costs are difficult to quantify);
    (2) Tailor its regulations to impose the least burden on society, 
consistent with obtaining regulatory objectives and taking into 
account--among other things and to the extent practicable--the costs of 
cumulative regulations;
    (3) In choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, select 
those approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential 
economic, environmental, public health and safety, and other 
advantages; distributive impacts; and equity);
    (4) To the extent feasible, specify performance objectives, rather 
than the behavior or manner of compliance a regulated entity must 
adopt; and
    (5) Identify and assess available alternatives to direct 
regulation, including economic incentives--such as user fees or 
marketable permits--to encourage the desired behavior, or provide 
information that enables the public to make choices.
    Executive Order 13563 also requires an agency ``to use the best 
available techniques to quantify anticipated present and future 
benefits and costs as accurately as possible.'' The Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB has emphasized that these 
techniques may include ``identifying changing future compliance costs 
that might result from technological innovation or anticipated 
behavioral changes.''
    We are issuing the proposed requirement only on a reasoned 
determination that its benefits would justify its costs. In choosing 
among alternative regulatory approaches, we selected the approach that 
would maximize net benefits. Based on an analysis of anticipated costs 
and benefits, we believe that the proposed requirement is consistent 
with the principles in Executive Order 13563.
    We also have determined that this regulatory action does not unduly 
interfere with State, local, and Tribal governments in the exercise of 
their governmental functions.
    In accordance with the Executive orders, the Department has 
assessed the potential costs and benefits, both quantitative and 
qualitative, of this regulatory action. The potential costs are those 
resulting from statutory requirements and those we have determined as 
necessary for administering the Department's programs and activities.

Potential Costs and Benefits

    The Department has analyzed the costs and benefits of complying 
with the proposed requirement. Due to the varying capacity and 
administrative structures of affected entities, we cannot estimate, 
with absolute precision, the likely effects of the proposed 
requirement. However, as discussed below, we estimate that the proposed 
requirement would have a net cost of $60,000 over two years.
    As an initial matter, the Department recognizes that staff at SEAs 
and LEAs nationwide expend considerable effort every year on education 
finance, both in their general supervisory capacity and as part of 
their efforts to comply with the maintenance of equity requirements in 
the ARP Act. The analysis below is not an attempt to quantify those 
efforts. Rather, this analysis is limited only to the incremental cost 
of complying with the proposed requirement (e.g., through public 
reporting).
    For the purposes of these estimates, the Department assumes that 
the proposed requirement does not generate any additional data 
collection or retention burdens beyond those already imposed by the 
statutory requirement itself. To the extent that these assumptions are 
incorrect, actual costs borne by States could be higher than those 
outlined below.
    We assume that a representative from each of the 50 States, the 
District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (hereafter 
collectively referred to as States) would review the final requirement. 
We assume that such review would take, on average, one hour per State 
for a one-time cost of approximately $2,800.\3\
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    \3\ The Department assumes a loaded wage rate of $53.79 per hour 
based on the average hourly wage rate for management analysts 
employed in State governments, excluding schools and hospitals 
(https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_999200.htm), which is 
multiplied by 1.61 to account for the employer cost for employee 
compensation (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf).
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    We assume that, for each State, a management analyst would spend 
approximately eight hours, on average, compiling the relevant data and 
preparing it for posting. Within this estimate, we assume a management 
analyst would employ any necessary data suppression rules, add NCES 
identifiers, and make any necessary formatting changes for posting of 
the data. We assume that posting the data online would take a network 
administrator ($59.09 \4\ per hour) approximately 30 minutes. In total, 
we assume posting data would cost approximately $23,900 per year.
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    \4\ The Department assumes a loaded wage rate of $59.09 per hour 
based on the average hourly wage rate for network and computer 
systems administrators employed in State governments, excluding 
schools and hospitals (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_999200.htm), which is multiplied by two to account for 
overhead and benefits.
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    Finally, we assume that approximately 20 States would need to 
update their data after initial posting. We assume the updates would 
take a management analyst approximately 4 hours to complete and would 
require 30 minutes for a network administrator to post. In total, we 
assume posting corrections would cost approximately $4,900 per year.
    In general, we believe that the costs outlined above could be 
offset with funds the States have reserved under the ARP ESSER grant 
program. The benefit of publicly posting LEA-level maintenance of 
equity data is to facilitate public accountability so that

[[Page 61]]

parents and families will be able to access publicly available 
information on how each LEA in the State is maintaining fiscal and 
staffing equity. Additionally, public posting of data and information 
on how each LEA in the State is maintaining equity is an important 
accountability tool for SEAs and the Department. As such, we believe 
the benefit to the general public would far outweigh any burden on 
States.

Clarity of the Regulations

    Executive Order 12866 and the Presidential memorandum ``Plain 
Language in Government Writing'' require each agency to write 
regulations that are easy to understand.
    The Secretary invites comments on how to make the proposed 
requirement easier to understand, including answers to questions such 
as the following:
     Are the requirements in the proposed regulations clearly 
stated?
     Do the proposed regulations contain technical terms or 
other wording that interferes with their clarity?
     Would the proposed regulations be difficult to understand 
for or to explain to someone with literacy challenges or limited 
English proficiency?
     Does the format of the proposed regulations (grouping and 
order of sections, use of headings, paragraphing, etc.) aid or reduce 
their clarity?
     Would the proposed regulations be easier to understand if 
we divided them into more (but shorter) sections?
     Could the description of the proposed regulations in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this preamble be more helpful in 
making the proposed regulations easier to understand? If so, how?
     What else could we do to make the proposed regulations 
easier to understand?
    To send any comments that concern how the Department could make the 
proposed requirement easier to understand, see the instructions in the 
ADDRESSES section.
    Intergovernmental Review: These programs are not subject to 
Executive Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Secretary certifies that this proposed regulatory action would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The U.S. Small Business Administration Size Standards define 
proprietary institutions as small businesses if they are independently 
owned and operated, are not dominant in their field of operation, and 
have total annual revenue below $7,000,000. Nonprofit institutions are 
defined as small entities if they are independently owned and operated 
and not dominant in their field of operation. Public institutions are 
defined as small organizations if they are operated by a government 
overseeing a population below 50,000.
    The proposed regulatory action would affect only States, none of 
which is a small entity for the purpose of this analysis.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burden, the Department provides the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections 
of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This helps ensure that the public 
understands the Department's collection instructions, respondents 
provide the requested data in the desired format, reporting burden 
(time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are 
clearly understood, and the Department can properly assess the impact 
of collection requirements on respondents.
    The proposed requirement that an SEA must publish on its website 
LEA-level maintenance of equity data for each LEA in the State contains 
an information collection requirement. Under the PRA, the Department 
has submitted this requirement to OMB for its review.
    A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of 
information unless OMB approves the collection under the PRA and the 
corresponding information collection instrument displays a currently 
valid OMB control number. Notwithstanding any other provision of the 
law, no person is required to comply with, or is subject to penalty for 
failure to comply with, a collection of information if the collection 
instrument does not display a currently valid OMB control number.
    As discussed in the Potential Costs and Benefits section of the 
Regulatory Impact Analysis, this proposed requirement would create cost 
and burden hours for SEAs. In the following paragraphs, we estimate the 
cost and burden hours associated with complying with this proposed 
requirement. Differences between the estimates in the Regulatory Impact 
Analysis and this section are due to differences in calculating the net 
impact and annual impact of this requirement.
    We assume that, for each SEA, including the District of Columbia 
and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a management analyst, at an hourly 
rate of $53.79, will spend approximately 8 hours compiling the relevant 
data and preparing it for publication on the SEA website. At an hourly 
rate of $59.09, we estimate that posting the data online would take a 
network administrator approximately 30 minutes. We estimate that 
posting the LEA-level maintenance of equity data would cost each SEA 
$460 and result in 8.5 burden hours annually for a total annual cost of 
$23,900, and 442 burden hours.
    We estimate that approximately 20 States will need to update their 
data after initial posting. We assume the updates would take a 
management analyst approximately 4 hours to complete and would require 
30 minutes for a network administrator to post. We estimate posting 
corrections will cost each SEA $240 and result in 4.5 burden hours for 
a total cost of $4,900, and 90 burden hours.
    Collectively, we estimate that this proposed requirement would 
result in a total estimated cost of $28,800 and a total estimated 
burden of 532 hours to the public annually.
    The Department is requesting paperwork clearance on the OMB 1810-
0759 data collection associated with this proposed requirement. That 
request will account for all burden hours and costs discussed within 
this section. Consistent with 5 CFR 1320.8(d), the Department is 
soliciting comments on the information collection through this 
document. Between 30 and 60 days after publication of this document in 
the Federal Register, OMB is required to make a decision concerning the 
collections of information contained in this proposed requirement. 
Therefore, to ensure that OMB gives your comments full consideration, 
it is important that OMB receives your comments on these Information 
Collection Requests by February 2, 2022. Comments related to the 
information collection activities must be submitted electronically 
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov by 
selecting the Docket ID number ED-2021-OESE-0116 or via postal mail, 
commercial delivery, or hand delivery by referencing the Docket ID 
number and the title of the information collection request at the top 
of your comment. Comments submitted by postal mail or delivery should 
be addressed to the PRA Coordinator of the Strategic Collections and 
Clearance Governance and Strategy Division, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Room 6W208D, Washington, DC 20202-
8240.
    Note: The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the 
Department review all comments related to the

[[Page 62]]

information collection activities posted at www.regulations.gov.

                                            Collection of Information
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                                                     Estimated                         Total
         Information collection activity             number of       Hours per       estimated       Estimated
                                                     responses       response      burden hours     total cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LEA-level Maintenance of Equity Data Posting....              52             8.5             442         $23,900
LEA-level Maintenance of Equity Data Updates....              20             4.5              90           4,900
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Annualized Total............................              72  ..............             532          28,800
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Ian Rosenblum,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Programs, Delegated the 
authority to perform the functions and duties of the Assistant 
Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2021-28376 Filed 12-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P