Under the Small Business Jobs Act of
2010 (the "Act"), the Department of the Treasury is responsible for
implementing several components of the Act. Among these components
is a program under title III of the Act which requires Treasury to
make payments to participating states. Participating states will
use the federal funds for programs that leverage private lending to
help finance small businesses and manufacturers that are
creditworthy, but are not getting the loans they need to expand and
create jobs. The collection of information is necessary to ensure
that the allocation agreement constitutes a legal binding
obligation of the participating state and to monitor participating
state compliance and performance. The recordkeeping requirements
ensure both the effective and efficient use of the funds consistent
with the agreement.
On September 27, 2010,
President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010
(the Act). The Act created the State Small Business Credit
Initiative (SSBCI) to be administered by the Department of the
Treasury (Treasury) which was funded with $1.5 billion to
strengthen state programs that support lending to small businesses,
and small manufacturers. The SSBCI is expected to help spur up to
$15 billion in lending to small businesses to help address the
current economic challenges facing small businesses many of which
are at imminent risk for failure. The SSBCI is currently a one-time
program created to address the acute need for small business access
to credit in the current economy. Applications from the states,
territories and the District of Columbia that have indicated their
intent to apply were due by June 27, 2011; applications from
municipalities were due September 27, 2011. More than 58 eligible
applicants applied for allocations. As noted in the PRA
Justification memo, this request comprises a reinstatement of two
prior approved collections as well as two new collections. The need
for each of these collections is to immediately increase the
effectiveness of funds already disbursed (and in the case of the
Municipal Allocation Agreement, to effectuate the approval of funds
to five applicants whose submitted applications presented specific
changes to the standard agreement). The need for each of these
collections are driven by the needs of participating states to be
able to quickly adapt to economic changes and to enhance program
performance, thus meeting the program objective of rapidly using
these funds to promote small business lending, as noted above.
Further, Section 3003(c)(4) of the Act subjects all participating
states to potential rescission of allocated amounts if all funds
are not deployed within two years of the initial allocation. It is
therefore critical that the revised SSBCI Application and the
revised SSBCI allocation agreement with the new collections of
information contained therein be made available immediately to
applicant states, territories, and municipalities. For the above
states reasons, Treasury respectfully requests emergency PRA
clearance of the revised SSBCI Application and revised SSBCI
Allocation Agreement.
The new burden reflects
elements of the compliance standards guidance not explicitly
defined in the original clearance.
No
No
No
Yes
No
Uncollected
Daniel Ballard 202
674-1781
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
PRA_national_compliance_standards_short.doc
PRA Justification Memorandum vFINAL to OMB.docx
Compliance Guidance