Supporting Statement 0184

Instructions for Completion of Federal Assistance

Application for SSA Research and Demonstration Grant Programs

Form SSA-96-BK

OMB No. 0960-0184

1. Justification

1. Section 1110 of the Social Security Act authorizes the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to award grants to eligible applicants. The information we are requesting will assist the Commissioner in evaluating the proposed activities of eligible applicants as to the soundness of their design, the possibilities of obtaining productive results, the adequacy of resources to conduct the activities and the relationship to other similar activities that have been, or are being, conducted. The format and information SSA is requesting is consistent with that prescribed by OMB Circulars A-102 and A-110.

2. The information will assist the Commissioner in selecting grant proposals for funding based on their technical merits. As part of the grant award process, applicants must provide sufficient information that explains how they will accomplish the activity or project, its goals, and objectives. The affected public is comprised of nonprofit and for profit organizations, educational institutions, and State and local governments that have applied for grants. SSA will also use the information to monitor the progress and completion of an approved project/activity. The information SSA is requesting is the minimum the agency needs to evaluate the technical merits of a proposed activity and to monitor its progress and successful completion.

3. This application is available on the government-wide Grants.gov internet portal. Approximately 95 percent of the applicants applying for grants submit their applications electronically through Grants.gov; the remaining 5 percent submit the paper form to SSA.

4. The nature of the information SSA is collecting and the manner in which we are collecting it preclude duplication. SSA uses no other form that collects similar information to that collected by Form SSA-96-BK.

5. Small businesses and other small entities may be involved. SSA has minimized the burden on to them since the information required on the form is the minimum information that SSA needs to award a grant and/or monitor an approved activity. The volume of responses is very low.

6. SSA requires the information from applicants in response to annual announcements of the availability of fiscal year funds for grant programs the agency administers. For SSA to require submission of grant applications less frequently would be inconsistent with the budgetary process and therefore, SSA cannot request the information less frequently. There are no technical or legal obstacles that prevent burden reduction.

7. Use of this form is consistent with 5 CFR 1320.5.

8. SSA published the 60-day Federal Register Notice on April 7, 2009 at 74 FR 15808 and SSA has received no comments from the public. SSA published the 30-day Federal Register Notice on June 9, 2009 at 74 FR 27379. There have been no consultations with members of the public. Note: The first Federal Register Notice lists this information collection request (ICR) as an extension; however, as we are revising the Privacy Act Statement, SSA is now listing this ICR as a revision.

9. SSA provides no payment or gifts to respondents.

10. SSA will protect and hold confidential the information collected on the form in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 1306, 20 CFR 401 and 402, 5 U.S.C. 552 (Freedom of Information Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act of 1974) and OMB Circular No. A-130.

11. The information collection does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Approximately 400 respondents will use the Form SSA-96-BK annually. SSA estimates that each respondent will submit 2 responses resulting in 800 total annual responses. We estimate an average response time is 14 hours for a total of 11,200 burden hours. The total burden represents burden hours. SSA did not calculate a separate cost burden.

Collection Method	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses per Respondent	Estimated Completion Time	Burden Hours
Grants.gov	380	2	14 hours	10,640
Paper Form	20	2	14 hours	560
Totals	400			11,200

13. There is no known cost burden to the respondents.

14. The annual cost to the Federal Government is $80,000. This estimate is a projection of the costs Grants.gov usage and for printing and distributing the collection instrument and for collecting the information.

15. The public reporting burden has not changed since the last reporting period. However, prior to ROCIS we were unable to show the breakdown between respondents’ electronic and paper form submissions.

16. SSA will not publish the results of the information collection.

17. OMB exempted SSA from publishing the expiration date for OMB approval on its forms. SSA produces millions of public-use forms, many of which have a life cycle longer than that of an OMB clearance. SSA does not periodically revise and reprint its public-use forms, (e.g., on an annual basis). OMB granted this exemption so that SSA would not have to stop using otherwise useable editions of forms with outdated expiration dates. In addition, we avoid government waste because we do not have to destroy and reprint stocks of forms.

18. SSA is not requesting an exemption to the certification requirements at 5 CFR 1320.9 and related provisions at 5 CFR 1320.8 (b) (3).

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

SSA does not use statistical methods for this information collection.