EE_HH.stm

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
Justification for:
31 CFR PART 321, "Payments by Banks and Other Financial
Institutions of United States Savings Bonds and United
States Savings Notes (Freedom Shares)."
1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of
information necessary. Identify any legal or
administrative requirements that necessitate the
collection. Chapter 31 of Title 31 of the United
States Code authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to
prescribe the terms and conditions of the sale of
United States savings bonds. The offering circular
under which Series E/EE and H/HH savings bonds are sold
to the public prescribes the specific conditions of
sale, ownership, and payment of interest on the bonds,
including payment of interest by the Automated Clearing
House (ACH) method of direct deposit upon the request
of the owner or coowner. The collection of information
is necessary to identify the direct deposit
instructions of the owner.
2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the
information is to be used. The information will be
used only by employees of the Department of the
Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt, the various
Federal Reserve Banks and Branches acting as fiscal
agents of the United States, and qualified financial
institutions acting as agents of the bond owners. The
information will be used to direct the interest
payments of the bond owner to his or her account at the
financial institution of his or her choice. Without
the information, the transaction cannot be completed.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection
of information involves the use of automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information
technology. What consideration is given to use
information technology to reduce burden?
The ACH system is a direct deposit method of payment
through which participating institutions exchange
funds electronically, thereby eliminating unnecessary
duplicate paperwork.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Why can’t
any similar information already available be used or
modified for use for the purposes described in item 2
above? Duplicate information is not requested.
5. If the collection of information impacts small
business or other small entities describe any methods
used to minimize burden? This collection of
information does not impact small business or other
small entities.
6. What consequences to Federal program or policy
activities and what, if any, technical or legal
obstacles to reducing burden will occur if this
collection is not conducted or is conducted less
frequently? N/A
7. Is this collection of information conducted in a
manner consistent with the guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.6?
The collection of information cannot be conducted less
frequently because the collection is initiated for a
single purpose.
8. What effort was made to notify the general public
about this collection of information? The Bureau’s
notice was published in the Federal Register on
January 9, 2007, Page 1059. No comments were
received.
9. What decision was made to provide any payment or gift
to respondents, other than reenumeration of
contractors or grantees? N/A
10. What assurance of confidentiality was provided to
respondents and what was the basis for the assurance in
statute, regulations, or agency policy? In accordance
with the Privacy Act of 1974, information furnished by
the public is assured confidentiality.
11. What justification is there for questions of a
sensitive nature? There are no questions of a sensitive
nature.
12. What is the estimated hour burden of this
collection of information? The burden for this
collection is reflected in the burden for the various
forms required to conduct savings bonds transactions.

13.

What is the estimated total annual cost burden to
respondents or recordkeepers resulting from this
collection of information? Estimated cost burden
to respondents is not available.

14.

What is the annualized cost to the Federal
Government? N/A

15.

What is the reason for any program changes or
adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB
Form 83-I? N/A

16.

For collections of information whose results will
be published, outline plans for tabulation and
publication. The results of the collection of this
information will not be published for statistical
use.

17.

If seeking approval to not display the expiration
date for OMB approval of this information
collection, what are the reasons that the display
would be inappropriate? N/A

18.

What are the exceptions to the certification
statement? N/A