Justification - Universal 1.31.12

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSIONS

 

A. Justification

A1. Need for Information Collection

The Corporation for National and Community Service (the Corporation) awards grants to states, institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, Indian tribes, and U.S. Territories to operate AmeriCorps State, AmeriCorps National, AmeriCorps NCCC, and Senior Corps programs. This information collection comprises the questions applicants will answer to compete for funding related to the Corporation’s strategic plan or other priorities. This information collection will ensure that every new competition designed by the Corporation that is not required to comply with its own statute and regulations (AmeriCorps, SeniorCorps, and Learn and Serve America) will be conducted with the same simple set of instructions.

A2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used.

The Corporation is soliciting comments concerning application instructions designed to be used for grant competitions which the Corporation sponsors from time to time. These competitions are designed and conducted, when appropriations are available, to address the Corporation’s strategic initiatives or other priorities. These competitions fall outside of the Corporation’s primary grant programs (AmeriCorps and Senior Corps). Respondents will be States (including Territories), subdivisions of States, Indian trines, public or private nonprofit organizations (including religious organizations and labor organizations), and institutions of higher education.

Applicants will respond to the questions included in these instructions in order to apply for funding in these Corporation competitions. Successful applicants will report on an annual basis on their progress using the attached Annual Reporting Questions. Their Annual Reports will provide information for Corporation staff to monitor grantee progress, and to respond to requests from Congress and other stakeholders.

 

 A3. Minimize Burden: Use of Improved Technology to Reduce Burden

The Corporation will be eliciting and accepting grantees response to these questions electronically via eGrants, the Corporation’s secure online application system, or via e-mail. If applicants are unable to apply or report on-line, they can use the attached forms and instructions to submit their application and annual grantee progress report. 

A4. Non-Duplication

There are no other sources of information by which the Corporation can meet the purposes described in A2 (above).

 

A5. Minimizing economic burden for small businesses or other small entities.

This collection of information does not impact small businesses because they are not eligible to apply for grants. There is no economic burden to any other small entities beyond the cost of staff time to collect and report the data. This is minimized to the degree possible by only asking for the information absolutely necessary to measure progress towards the Corporation’s strategic initiative benchmarks.

A6. Consideration of Collection

 The Corporation will be unable to conduct competitions related to its strategic plan or other priorities without approval of this collection. Neither will the Corporation be able to measure grantee progress towards goals without deploying this instrument.

A7. Special circumstances that would cause information collection to be collected in other than the specified ways.

There are no special circumstances that would require the collection of information in any other ways specified.

A8. Provide copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the Agency’s notice.

The 60 day Notice soliciting comments was published on Wednesday, September 7, 2011 on page 55367. The 30 day Notice was published on Monday, November 29, 2011 on page73602

 

 A9. Payment to Respondents

There are no payments or gifts to respondents

  

A10. Confidentiality

Information provided by this collection may be shared with federal, state, and local agencies for law enforcement purposes. Information provided by respondents is subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act.

A11. Sensitive Questions

 The information collection does not include questions of a sensitive nature.

 

A12. Hour burden of the collection

These are the application instructions for all competitions we expect to conduct focused on the strategic plan. We expect all applicants using these application instructions to take about the same amount of time to complete them, and the same amount of time to submit reports.

We expect approximately 2,000 respondents to use these instructions to apply for funding in competitions related to the strategic initiatives or other priorities. The frequency of response will not be greater than annually, and should not exceed 8 hours of effort per respondent. We expect an additional 8 hours of burden per successful applicant, for a total burden of 17,600 hours. The reporting questions are the same ones that have already been approved by OMB. There is no estimated annual hour burden outside of the customary and usual business practices.

 

A13. Cost burden to the respondent

There is no cost burden to the respondent outside normal cost of doing business.

 

A14. Cost to Government

The Corporation is required by law to require grantees to provide annual progress reports. The Corporation’s review of the data will be accomplished by internal teams of staffs as part of their regular job functions and will not result in the incurring of additional costs.

A15. Reasons for program changes

The application has been revised to align with other CNCS applications; include eGrants submission details and certifications and assurances; and to align with the new strategic plan.

 

 A16. Publication of results

Not applicable because the responses to this information collection will not be published. 

 

A17. Explain the reason for seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection.

Not applicable.

 

 A18. Exceptions to the certification statement

There are no exceptions to the certification statement in the submitted ROCIS form.

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