[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 209 (Monday, October 31, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65647-65648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23564]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERA2)

AGENCY: Office of Recovery Programs, Departmental Offices, U.S. 
Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing 
effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general 
public and other federal agencies to comment on the proposed 
information collections listed below, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Comments should be received on or before December 30, 2022 to be 
assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding the burden estimate, or any other 
aspect of the information collection, including suggestions for 
reducing the burden, to Melody Braswell, Treasury PRA Clearance 
Officer, 1750 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 8100, Washington, DC 20220, 
or email at [email protected]. Copies of the submissions may be obtained 
from Haley Adams by emailing [email protected] or viewing the 
entire information collection request at www.reginfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERA2).
    OMB Control Number: 1505-0270.
    Type of Review: Extension of a previously approved collection.
    Description: On March 11, 2021, the President signed the American 
Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the ``Act'') into law. The Act authorizes the 
Secretary of the Treasury to disburse $21.55 billion of Emergency 
Rental Assistance (ERA2) to States, the District of Columbia, U.S. 
Territories, and certain local governments with more than 200,000 
residents (collectively, ``grantees'') to provide financial assistance 
and housing stability services to eligible households. Beginning on 
October 1, 2022, eligible ERA2 grantees that have obligated 75% of the 
ERA2 funds allocated to them may also use their remaining unobligated 
funds on other affordable rental housing and eviction prevention 
activities, as defined by the Secretary, serving very low-income 
families.
    The Act requires Treasury to reallocate funds initially allocated, 
but not yet paid, to eligible grantees, according to a procedure 
established by Treasury. Pursuant to the reallocation procedure 
Treasury has established, Treasury identifies funds subject to 
reallocation on a quarterly basis and refers to them as ``excess 
funds.'' To identify the eligible grantees interested in receiving 
reallocated funds, Treasury solicits Request for Reallocation forms 
through its ERA2 program portal, which capture the amount of each 
grantee's request as well as information confirming that a requesting 
grantee meets certain eligibility requirements, including the statutory 
requirement that a grantee obligate at least 50% of its initial ERA2 
allocation before receiving reallocated funds.
    In addition to confirming grantees' eligibility to receive 
reallocated funds, the reallocation forms on Treasury's ERA2 portal 
allow Treasury to collect information needed to determine which 
grantees to prioritize in the distribution of reallocated funds. 
Treasury's prioritization calculation considers: whether potential 
recipient grantees are located in the same state as transferor 
grantees; potential recipient grantees' rate of expenditure; and 
potential recipient grantees' jurisdictional needs. Pursuant to 
Treasury's ERA2 program guidance, starting with reallocation based on 
data as of June 30, 2022 (known as the Quarter 2 Assessment), Treasury 
will also prioritize, among eligible grantees, those grantees that have 
expended non-ERA funds, including State and Local Fiscal Recovery 
Funds, for rental or utility assistance substantially similar to 
eligible uses under ERA1 \1\ or ERA2 since the enactment of the ERA1 
statute on December 27, 2020, in an amount exceeding 20% of their 
initial ERA2 allocation. To receive this prioritization, a grantee must 
submit to Treasury a certification of, among other things, the amount 
of non-ERA funding expended on rental or utility assistance 
substantially similar to eligible uses under ERA1 or ERA2, the sources 
of these expenditures, and the number of households served. To 
implement this prioritization system for the Quarter 2 Assessment and 
subsequent reallocation

[[Page 65648]]

cycles, Treasury has developed a form for its reallocation portal to 
collect information needed to confirm that a requesting eligible 
grantee is entitled to prioritization based on its non-ERA 
expenditures.
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    \1\ ``ERA1'' refers to the Emergency Rental Assistance program 
authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. L. 
116-260, section 501, 134 Stat. 2069 (Dec. 27, 2020).
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    In addition to the above-described reallocation process, some 
grantees choose to voluntarily reallocate a portion of their ERA2 
allocations to one or more eligible grantees. To that end, Treasury has 
also developed, within its reallocation portal, a standard form that 
grantees use to initiate voluntary reallocation. In accordance with 
statutory requirements, a grantee may transfer up to 60% of its initial 
ERA2 allocation.
    OMB approved the usage of these various reallocation forms on June 
16, 2022. Since then, Treasury has made de minimis changes accounting 
for the passage of time and other program developments, none of which 
substantively alter the forms.
    Accordingly, the collection of the above-described information is 
crucial to the reallocation process, which is a central component of 
the ERA2 program.
    Forms: Request for Voluntary Reallocation; Request for Reallocated 
Funds; Request for Reallocated Funds--Voluntary; Non-ERA Expenditures 
Report.
    Affected Public: States, Territories and local governments who 
received ERA2 awards.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 482.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Estimated Total Number of Annual Responses: 982.
    Estimated Time per Response: Varies from 10-60 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 524.4 hours.
    Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice 
will be summarized and included in the request for Office of Management 
and Budget approval. All comments will become a matter of public 
record. Comments are invited on: (a) whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
through the use of technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up 
costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services 
required to provide information.
    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

Melody Braswell,
Treasury PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2022-23564 Filed 10-28-22; 8:45 am]
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