1121-0140_Supporting_Statement_for_OJP_Standard_Assurances_form[2]

Supporting Statement for OJP Standard Assurances Form

1. This certification is necessary to ensure that all grantees receiving federal grant funds through the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) are aware of, and agree to comply with, the legal requirements accompanying these funds. This collection of information is authorized pursuant to Public Law 90-351 and OJP’s accompanying responsibility to oversee the expenditure of grants funds under programs authorized thereby.

2. This information will be used by OJP to ensure that all grantees receiving federal grant funds through OJP are aware of, and agree to comply with, the legal requirements accompanying these funds.

3. OJP grants are generally awarded through the Grants Management System, an electronic information management system, which permits grantees to indicate their acceptance of the terms of the Standard Assurances form electronically. This means of collection was chosen because it is more efficient to move the large amount of information (of which the Standard Assurances form is only a small part) associated with federal grant awards electronically, rather than by traditional paper-based systems.

4. This form is a complete duplication of information already available in the multitude of cross-cutting federal laws and regulations spread throughout the volumes of the U.S. Code and the Code of Federal Regulations. The Standard Assurances form lists the most important of these laws in a compact format, thereby serving as notice of the laws to which OJP grantees are subject (and allowing OJP to more easily hold grantees accountable for violations of these laws, if necessary). OMB has a similar standard assurances form – however, this form is not specific to OJP programs and excludes certain provisions that are needed for OJP programs.

5. This form does reduce the burden on small businesses and entities by providing a relevant and concise summary of the most important laws that govern OJP grant awards.

6. If this collection is not conducted, it would be more difficult to hold OJP grantees accountable for expending funds in violation of laws and OJP grant policies. This program already imposes a minimal burden (it is a certification) and actually benefits grantees by providing an easily accessible reference to the most pertinent laws governing their use of the grant funds.

7. None of the special circumstances listed in this question are applicable to the OJP Standard Assurances form.

8. The 60 and 30 day federal register notices were published, and no comments were received.

9. No such decision was ever made.

10. No assurance of confidentiality is provided in the OJP Standard Assurances. Please see the attached screen shots under supplementary documents, for the GMS login screen that grantees use to complete the Standard Assurances form.

11. This form does not contain questions of a sensitive nature.

12. This Standard Assurances form will go out with thousands of OJP grants each year. Each award will contain this form. The annual hour burden associated with this information collection is 10,000 hours (1000 estimated respondents multiplied by 10 hours per respondent). Aside from the minimal time required to review and sign the form, there will be no cost to respondents (all substantive requirements of the Standard Assurances form are already required by federal law).

13. Aside from the minimal time required to review and sign the form, there will be no cost to respondents (all substantive requirements of the Standard Assurances form are already required by federal law).

14. This information collection has long been programmed into OJP’s Grants Management System and there will be no additional cost required to place this Standard Assurances form in each award.

15. This PRA collection expired in 06/2009. The previously approved collection included burden hours and annual responses numbers for another OJP form, the Equal Employment Opportunity Plan Short Form (EEOP). The burden for the EEOP form is being separated from this collection and will be submitted as a new collection. So the actual burden for the standard assurance form is not changing. .

16. This is not applicable as there are no “results” aside from a signature and this will not be published.

17. OJP will display the expiration date.

18. There were no exceptions to the certification statement in Item 19.