[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10914-10916]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03610]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Docket ID: FEMA-2022-0040; OMB No. 1660-0076]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review, Comment Request; Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) 
Application Reporting

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland 
Security.

ACTION: 30 Day notice of revision and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the 
information collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and 
Budget for review and clearance in accordance with the requirements of 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The submission seeks comments 
regarding the requirements, grants management procedures, and 
implementation of grants awarded under the Hazard Mitigation Grant 
Program (HMGP), which is a post-disaster program that contributes funds 
toward the cost of hazard mitigation activities to reduce the risk of 
future damage, hardship, loss or suffering in any area affected by a 
major disaster.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 24, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection should be made to Director, 
Information Management Division, 500 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20472, 
email address: [email protected] or 
Jennie Orenstein, Chief, HMA Grants Policy Branch, at (202) 212-4071 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5170c, 
authorizes the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). Program grant 
requirements and grants management procedures are outlined in 44 CFR 
part 206 Subpart N, and 2 CFR parts 200 and 3002. The Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (FEMA) administers the HMGP, and Recipients implement 
the grants under the HMPG per grant agreement, rules, and regulations. 
The HMGP is a post-disaster program that contributes funds toward the 
cost of hazard mitigation activities to reduce the risk of future 
damage, hardship, loss or suffering in any area affected by a major 
disaster or any area affected by a fire for which assistance was 
provided under section 420 of the Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. 5187). 
Section 102 of the Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(4)) defines a ``state'' 
as any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto 
Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands. ``Recipient'', as provided in 2 CFR 200, 
means a non-Federal entity that receives a Federal award directly from 
a Federal awarding agency to carry out an activity under a Federal 
program, or an Indian tribal government that chooses to act as a 
recipient rather than as a subrecipient. ``Subrecipient'' refers to a 
non-Federal entity that receives a subaward from a pass-through entity 
to carry out part of a Federal program; but does not include an 
individual that is a beneficiary of

[[Page 10915]]

such program. A subrecipient may also be a recipient of other Federal 
awards directly from a Federal awarding agency. The term ``Indian 
tribal government'' is defined in section 102 of the Stafford Act, 42 
U.S.C. 5122(6), as the governing body of any Indian or Alaska Native 
tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that the Secretary 
of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe under the 
Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994. In addition, the 
Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 (Pub. L. 113-2, 42 U.S.C. 
5170(b)) amended the Stafford Act to allow the Chief Executive of a 
federally recognized Indian tribe to make a direct request for a major 
disaster or emergency declaration to the President of the United 
States.
    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) adopted in its entirety 
the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit 
Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR part 200) on December 26, 2014, 
at 2 CFR part 3002, (79 FR 75867, December 19, 2014). This rule 
eliminates overlapping and duplicative requirements for stakeholders, 
including states, territories and Indian tribal governments, by using 
general terms such as ``recipient'' and ``pass-through entity.''
    The HMGP regulation describes the application process in 44 CFR 
206.436. Information collected through the financial award application 
is the minimum information necessary for the financial award 
administration under the HMGP and includes the project narrative, 
analysis of the measure's cost-effectiveness referred to as the 
benefit-cost determination, and environmental review used in 
conjunction with OMB No. 1660-0025.
    44 CFR 206.436(d) states: ``The State must submit all local HMGP 
applications and funding requests for the purpose of identifying new 
projects to the Regional Administrator within 12 months of the date of 
disaster declaration.'' Furthermore, section 311 of the DHS 
Appropriations Act, 2022 (Pub. L. 117-103, 136 Stat. 331) states: 
``beginning between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, the Federal 
share of assistance, including direct Federal assistance, provided 
under such sections shall be not less than 90 percent of the eligible 
cost of such assistance.'' The legislation applies to all current FY 
2022 HMGP local and Tribal sub applicants and significantly alters 
application and program financial management information collection 
requirements. The DHS Appropriations Act, 2022 does not provide 
additional funding for HMGP COVID-19 relief beyond the already 
established $3.46 billion.
    Per 44 CFR 206.438(c), progress reports must be submitted by the 
HMGP Recipient to the Regional Administrator on a quarterly basis, 
certifying how the funds are being used and reporting on the progress 
of activities funded under the subrecipient awards made to the 
Recipient by FEMA. The Regional Administrator and Recipient negotiate 
the date for submission of the first report. Quarterly progress reports 
describe the status of those projects on which a final payment of the 
Federal share has not been made to the recipient, and outline any 
problems or circumstances expected to result in noncompliance with the 
approved award conditions.
    The legislative changes are expected to trigger a significant 
increase in requests by local subapplicants who have not yet developed 
FY 2022 project applications. The requests will likely extend the 
application deadline beyond the standard 12-month deadline of August 5, 
2022. Applications Period extension requests, authorized under 44 CFR 
206.436(e), may add additional information collection burden.
    The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 
(Evidence Act) (Pub. L. 115-435, 5 U.S.C. 311-315) establishes 
evaluation using systematic data collection and analysis of programs, 
policies, and organizations intended to assess their effectiveness and 
efficiency as an essential program activity. Hazard Mitigation programs 
are currently revising information collections to simply data 
collection, reduce burden, coordinate data collection across programs, 
develop performance metrics, and meet goals and priorities as 
stipulated in the Evidence Act. Program implementation of the Evidence 
Act will necessitate changes to information collections. Additionally, 
the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) (Pub. L. 117-58, 70901-
70927) and Executive Order (E.O.) 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis At 
Home and Abroad, (86 FR 7619, February 1, 2021) establishes additional 
information collection requirements, goals and priorities.
    This proposed information collection previously published in the 
Federal Register on November 23, 2022, at 87 FR 71659 with a 60 day 
public comment period. No comments were received. The purpose of this 
notice is to notify the public that FEMA will submit the information 
collection abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget for 
review and clearance.

Collection of Information

    Title: Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Application and 
Reporting.
    Type of Information Collection: Extension, with change, of a 
currently approved information collection.
    OMB Number: OMB No. 1660-0076.
    FEMA Forms: Project Narrative; Benefit-Cost Determination; 
Environmental Review; FEMA Form FF-206-FY-22-154 (formerly 009-0-111A), 
Quarterly Progress Reports.
    Abstract: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 
administers the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which is a post-
disaster program that contributes funds toward the cost of hazard 
mitigation activities to reduce the risk of future damage hardship, 
loss or suffering in any area affected by a major disaster. FEMA uses 
applications to provide financial assistance in the form of grant 
awards and, through grantee quarterly reporting, monitor grantee 
project activities and expenditure of funds.
    Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal Governments.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 236.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 10,891.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 100,280.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost: $6,141,147.
    Estimated Respondents' Operation and Maintenance Costs: $0.
    Estimated Respondents' Capital and Start-Up Costs: $0.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to the Federal Government: $2,318,946.

Comments

    Comments may be submitted as indicated in the ADDRESSES caption 
above. Comments are solicited to (a) evaluate whether the proposed data 
collection is necessary for the proper performance of the agency, 
including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) 
evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (c) enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) minimize the burden 
of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including 
through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology,

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e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Millicent Brown Wilson,
Records Management Branch Chief, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, Mission Support, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 
Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2023-03610 Filed 2-21-23; 8:45 am]
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