[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 221 (Friday, November 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80282-80283]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25499]


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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, 
and Approvals

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or 
Severely Disabled operates as the U.S. AbilityOne Commission 
(Commission). This notice announces the Commission's intent to submit 
the Information Collection Request (``ICR'') described below to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval under applicable 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act. This notice provides an 
opportunity to interested members of the public and affected agencies 
to comment on a proposed Participating Employee Eligibility form.

DATES: Submit comments on or before January 16, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Stewart, Compliance and 
Enforcement Attorney, Office of General Counsel, U.S. AbilityOne 
Commission, 355 E Street SW, Suite 325, Washington, DC 20024; 
telephone: (703) 254-6172; email: [email protected]. If you are 
deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and wish to access 
telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Overview of ICR: This notice pertains to an ICR the Commission 
intends to submit to OMB to approve the form that an AbilityOne-
participating nonprofit agency employer will fill out to document its 
determination of an individual's eligibility to be a participating 
employee in the AbilityOne Program. The form is an updated and modified 
version of the Commission's Individual Eligibility Evaluation (IEE) 
form (OMB Control # 3037-0012). The purpose of the IEE was to determine 
and document an individual's eligibility to participate in the 
AbilityOne Program by identifying the individual's barriers to 
employment as well as the job supports the individual needs to perform 
their job.
    This ICR is consistent with OMB regulations at 5 CFR part 1320, 
which implement provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) These regulations require the Commission to 
provide an opportunity to interested members of the public and affected 
agencies to comment on information collection and recordkeeping 
activities (see 5 CFR 1320.8(d)) such as those proposed to be 
implemented through this form.
    The Commission is responsible for implementing the Javits-Wagner-
O'Day (JWOD) Act, 41 U.S.C. 8501-8506. In doing so, the Commission 
oversees the AbilityOne Program, an employment program in which 
individuals who are blind or have significant disabilities provide 
products and services to Federal agencies, thereby creating employment 
opportunities. The Commission maintains a Procurement List of mandatory 
source products and services provided by approximately 450 qualified 
nonprofit agencies (NPAs). The individuals who are blind or have 
significant disabilities working on AbilityOne contracts are called 
``participating employees.''
    The Commission collects certain data from qualified NPAs regarding 
participating employees in order to ensure the integrity of the 
AbilityOne Program. Providing effective program stewardship requires 
collection of information to protect participating employees and ensure 
that positions intended for individuals who are blind or have 
significant disabilities are, in fact, filled by those individuals.
    The proposed data collection form in this ICR is consistent with 
the Commission's responsibilities and ensures that the Commission will 
collect the most pertinent data to inform its oversight and decision 
making.
    The form described in this ICR is the first of two forms intended 
to modernize the existing IEE form and align it with the Commission's 
strategic plan and updated approach to determining eligibility for 
participating employees. The Commission has outlined the criteria for 
eligibility for participating employees in its Policy 51.403, which 
will be published in final form on November 17, 2023, and will be 
effective on January 1, 2024.
    As outlined in Policy 51.403, and reflected in the proposed form, a 
significant change in the Commission's approach to determining a 
prospective employee's eligibility for the AbilityOne Program is the 
Commission's acceptance of other governmental agency determinations of 
disability. For example, individuals deemed eligible for Social 
Security disability benefits are now automatically eligible to 
participate in the AbilityOne Program. The proposed form described in 
this ICR enables NPAs to certify that an individual has a determination 
of disability from a governmental agency, and in so doing, streamlines 
the process to qualify individuals for employment in the AbilityOne 
Program.
    A draft version of the form NPAs will complete is available at 
www.abilityone.gov (see News and Events column on the homepage). For 
individuals who meet the eligibility requirements under either Part A 
or Part B of the proposed form, the Commission estimates that 
completing the form will take approximately 5 minutes. For individuals 
who meet the eligibility requirements under Part C or Part D of the 
proposed form, the Commission estimates that completing the form will 
take approximately 30 minutes. NPAs completing Part C or Part D of the 
form will need to complete Part E, as well, which is included in the 
estimated 30 minutes.
    In accordance with these and other changes reflected in Policy 
51.403, the Commission estimates that the time and financial burden to 
the NPAs in completing the proposed form will be significantly lower 
than required by the corresponding sections of the existing IEE form. 
Over time, this form will further substantially reduce the burden on 
NPAs because, in most cases, it will be filled out only once per 
employee--i.e., when an employee is onboarded--and not on an annual 
basis as required by the existing IEE form. For employees with a non-
permanent disability, the form will be completed on a recurring,

[[Page 80283]]

seven-year basis. The Commission estimates that approximately 10% of 
AbilityOne employees have non-permanent disabilities.
    To calculate the burden for completion of the proposed form, the 
Commission considered an estimate from the Society for Human Resource 
Management that the average annual turnover across all industries is 
approximately 18 percent. Using this number, the Commission estimated 
that NPAs may need to complete this form for approximately 18 percent 
of their total employees each year. However, AbilityOne employers may 
experience lower turnover than employer in the general economy. The 
Commission acknowledges that net AbilityOne job growth may result in 
NPAs completing additional forms.
    The table below shows the Commission's estimate for the average 
amount of time per employee for whom the NPAs complete a form, both in 
the first year of implementation (``Year 1'') and in the following 
years of implementation (``Years 2+''). The Commission recognizes that 
NPAs vary widely in total number of employees. Therefore, an NPA can 
apply this analysis based on their individual employment totals.

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                                                                                   Maximum          Annual form     Total time burden
   Number of employees for whom NPA must complete form      Annual turnover/    responses for      burden (hours/   for all employees   Annual form cost
                                                           entry rate of 18%      this form          employee)           (hours)        burden (dollars)
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36,377 (Year 1)..........................................              6,548             42,925                0.5           21,462.5            662,762
520 (Years 2+)...........................................              6,548              7,068                0.5              3,534            109,130
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    NPAs can calculate their overall time burden (in hours) by 
multiplying the number of participating employees they have by 0.5. The 
cost burden is based upon national average pay data from the U.S. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, using the May 2022 National Occupational 
Employment and Wage Estimate of $30.88 as the median hourly wage for a 
Human Resources Specialist (OC 13-1070). (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#11-0000)
    With respect to this collection of information via the proposed 
form, the Commission welcomes comments on the following:
     The necessity to collect this information to support the 
Commission's mission and oversight responsibilities;
     Methodology to improve the accuracy of the estimated time 
burden; i.e., specific year-over-year employee turnover rates for NPAs 
or number of additional employee hires above turnovers, expressed as a 
percentage of the NPAs' total number of participating employees;
     Methodology to determine the percentage of participating 
employees who have non-permanent disabilities;
     Suggestions or methods to minimize the burdens associated 
with collecting the information described in this ICR.

Michael R. Jurkowski,
Acting Director, Business Operations.
[FR Doc. 2023-25499 Filed 11-16-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P