Att_obassur-supportstmt2007

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

A. Justification:

1. Legal Requirement:

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Act), Title VII, Chapter 2-- Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind authorizes grants to each State and certain territories to provide rehabilitation services to eligible blind individuals. The application required by the Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is the State's written request for grant funds and assurances that the Designated State Agency (DSA) can carry out its statutorily prescribed purposes and functions.

This preprint is based on the following:

(1) Title VII, Chapter 2 of the Act, as amended;

(2) the regulations (34 CFR Part 367);

3. Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR 34 CFR Part 76) and other applicable EDGAR regulations (refer to

34 CFR 367.4).

2. Purpose of the Information:

To receive a grant under § 752(a) of Title VII, Chapter 2 of the Act or a re-allotment grant under § 752(j)(4), a DSA must submit to, and obtain approval from, the Secretary an application for assistance under this program at the time, in the form and manner, and containing the agreements, assurances, and information, that the Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out the program (§§ 752(c)(2) and 752(i))

The application package consists of the following documents:

(1) A cover letter from the Commissioner (or Acting Commissioner) of RSA to the director of the DSA;

(2) the assurances required by the Act and in 34 CFR 367.11;

(3) Certifications regarding Lobbying.

The preprint being submitted for approval is for an extension, without change, of a currently approved, OMB NO: 1820-0660 “Written Application for the Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind Formula Grant (SC)”

3. Burden:

This is a preprinted legal document which requires an authoritative signature and minimal reporting burden. States do not submit responses electronically because an authoritative signature is required. The possibility of submitting responses electronically, with just a hard-copy signature page, was considered. However, because the reporting burden is so minimal and the form is so short, it did not justify allowing the submission to be done in two stages.

4. Duplication:

This document collects unique information that is not collected under any other instrument. The written request is required by Federal statute and is not obtained through any other data source.

5. Small entities:

The collection of this information does not involve small businesses or other small entities.

6. Consequences of less frequent collection:

Sections 752(c)(2) and 752(i) of the Act require the State to submit an application for the grant to the Commissioner in such form and manner and containing such agreements, assurances, and information as the Commissioner determines to be necessary. If the State fails to complete the application as required, the State will not be eligible for Federal funds for the Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind program. This method has been established as the required procedure for requesting grant funds for this program on a three-year basis.

7. Special circumstances:

There are no special circumstances that would require this information to be collected in a different manner than set forth in the Act.

8. Solicitation of public comments:

These assurances are taken directly from Federal law and regulations; therefore, public comments have not been sought. We will publish 60-day and 30-day Federal Register Notices to allow public comment.

9. Payment to respondents:

No payment or gift has been provided to respondents.

10. Confidentiality:

The written request does not contain specific or personal information.

11. Sensitive questions:

The written request does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Estimates of hour burden to respondents:

a. Number of respondents -- 56

b. Frequency of response -- 1 (every three years)

c. Total annual responses (axb) -- 56

d. Hours per response -- .16*

e. Total burden hours (cxd) -- 9

f. State hourly rate of salary -- -- $20

g. Total cost (exf) -- $180

* The hour burden associated with this application is estimated at 10 minutes, or .16 hours, per State or Territory. The estimated hour burden per State or Territory is not expected to vary significantly. Estimated burden hours are founded on judgments from previous State written request submittals for similar RSA grants.

13. Additional cost burden to respondents:

There is no additional cost burden to States and Territories.

14. Cost burden to Federal government:

a. Review of each written request -- .16 hour

b. Number of written requests to review -- 56

c. Total time to review written requests -- 9 hours*

d. Federal hourly rate of salary -- $25

e. Total cost (cxd) -- $225

* The estimated burden hours to the Federal government does not include time needed for negotiations when a written request is not approvable. Given the perfunctory nature of this written request, it would be unusual for a request to not be approvable.

15. Program changes:

There are no program changes or adjustments reported.

16. Information to be published:

The information collected will not be published for statistical use.

17. Approval not to display expiration date:

This document is not seeking OMB approval not to display the expiration date.

18. Exceptions to the certification statement:

This document meets each of the criteria outlined in the "Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions."

B. Collection of information employing statistical methods:

This is a legal document and does not require the use of any statistical methods in obtaining information.