U.S Department of Energy
Supporting Statement
Financial Assistance
OMB Control Number 1910-0400
This supporting statement provides additional information regarding the Department of Energy (DOE) request an extension of the information collection, Financial Assistance. The numbered questions correspond to the order shown on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Form 83-I, “Instructions for Completing OMB Form 83-I.”
Justification
Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Attach a copy of the appropriate section of each statute and regulation mandating or authorizing the information collection.
This package requests an extension of the existing collection, Financial Assistance under OMB Control Number 1910-0400, for an additional three year period. The authority and requirements for this collection are the Department of Energy Assistance Regulations, 2 CFR 910, and the Department of Energy Organization Act, Public Law 95-91. The Organization Act assigns the Secretary of Energy the executive direction and management functions, authority, and responsibilities for the Department. The DOE assistance regulations at 2 CFR 910 implements the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act, Public Law 95-224, as amended by Public Law 97-258 (31 U.S.C. §6301-6308), and establishes uniform policies and procedures for the award and administration of DOE grants and cooperative agreements in accordance with OMB’s Agency guidance at 2 CFR 200.
The basic authority for these collections is the statute establishing the Department of Energy, the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. §7254), which vests the Secretary of Energy with the executive direction and management functions, authority and responsibilities for the Department, including financial assistance management. The provisions of 42 U.S.C. §7254 state that “the Secretary is authorized to prescribe such procedural and administrative rules as he may deem necessary or appropriate to administer and manage the functions now or hereinafter vested in him;” and 42 U.S.C. §7256(a) says “the Secretary is authorized to enter into and perform such contracts, leases, cooperative agreements, or other similar transactions with public agencies and private organizations and persons, and to make such payments (in lump sum or installments, and by way of advance or reimbursement) as he may deem to be necessary or appropriate to carry out functions now or hereafter vested in the Secretary.”
Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection
DOE financial assistance recipients include state, local and tribal governments, institutions of higher education, non-profit and for-profit companies. The information obtained from applicants and recipients allows DOE Contracting Officers, Contract Specialists, and Program Managers the ability to oversee and manage DOE’s financial assistance programs, projects and awards. The information is used to determine merit of the applications, negotiate awards, and ensure recipients are performing properly and spending funds in accordance with the objectives, terms and conditions of the award.
Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.
Financial assistance recipients are authorized to submit information to the Department electronically, e.g., internet, e-mail, or computer disk. In some instances, such as the submission of proposals, technical, management or financial reports, or invoices, there are web based tools available to facilitate the submission of information. The burden on recipients is reduced by using Grants.gov, FedConnect and DOE’s E-Link system for submitting these reporting requirements electronically.
Describe efforts to identify duplication.
The collection of information will document progress and performance of DOE financial assistance awards, specifically to the requirements of each financial assistance award. Therefore the information collected is unique to DOE and can only be obtained through this request.
If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.
The impact of the collection of information to small businesses are considered in the development of the financial assistance requirements and documents and is minimized to the extent permitted by applicable statutory requirements and other legal and management constraints.
Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.
If the collection is not conducted, DOE will be in non compliance with the Department of Energy Organization Act, Public Law 95-91 and the provision of 42 USC §7254, which vest the Secretary of Energy with the executive direction and management functions, authority and responsibilities including financial assistance management. The Secretary is authorized to prescribe procedural and administrative rules appropriate to administer and manage said functions.
If the collection is conducted less frequently, the Department would be unable to determine merit of the applications, negotiate awards, and ensure the recipient is performing properly and spending funds in accordance with the agreement. Not collecting the information or reducing the collection frequency may adversely affect the Department’s oversight and management of its financial assistance programs, projects and awards.
Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines. (a) requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly; (b) requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it; (c) requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document; (d) requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records, for more than three years; (e) in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to product valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study; (f) requiring the use of statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB; (g) that includes a pledge of confidentially that is not supported by authority established in stature of regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; (h) requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secrets, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information’s confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.
There are none. The package is consistent with OMB guidelines.
If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency’s notice, required by 5 CFR 320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public comments received in response to that notice and describe actions taken in response to the comments. Specifically address comments received on cost and hour burden. Describe efforts to consult with persons outside DOE to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or report.
The Department published a 60-day Federal Register Notice and Request for Comments concerning this collection in the Federal Register on July 29, 2016 ( Vol. 81, No. 146), Page 49967. No comments were received.
Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.
There is no remuneration given for submission of any of the information in this collection.
Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.
Per the Department’s Funding Opportunity Announcements, information received in applications are used for evaluation purposes only. Funding Opportunity Announcements further instruct applicants on how to protect confidential data in their application for financial assistance.
Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. This justification should include the reasons why DOE considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information. the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.
No such sensitive questions are present, neither intended nor otherwise anticipated in this collection.
Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. The statement should indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated. Unless directed to do so, DOE should not conduct special surveys to obtain information on which to base hour burden estimates. Consultation with a sample fewer than 10 potential respondents is desirable.
The estimated burden, expressed in burden hours, is the sum of the burden reported by Departmental elements and Field organizations as compiled from their respective recipients or estimated by expert personnel familiar with these collections. Burden Hours computations for required reports are based on the number of estimated responses multiplied by the average hours required by respondent to prepare each response.
The burden estimate was based on actuals from previous years and estimates for future financial assistance activities. DOE receives approximately 6000 financial assistance applications a year and makes over 1,200 financial assistance awards per year. Most awards are for periods of 3 to 5 years. Approximately $2 billion per year is obligated to financial assistance awards each year with $1 billion of that going to new awards. Each applicant for DOE financial assistance is required to submit a new application for every project and each financial assistance award requires annual and quarterly technical, financial and administrative reporting. In addition, the majority of the information collected is required at the time an applicant is applying for an award, if there is a request to change the financial assistance project scope, or at completion of the award. Please note that calculations have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
Using these calculations, the annual burden of this package is as follows:
Total number respondents: 11,134
Reports filed per person: 4
Total annual responses: 39,378
Total annual burden hours: 532,067
Average Burden Per Collection: 13.5
Per Applicant: 47.7875
Provide an estimate for the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information.
There are no costs for the respondents in the collection of this data. The costs incurred by DOE financial assistance recipients for providing information are recovered in their reimbursement of expenses under their award.
Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.
The estimated cost to the Government for this collection is $2,542,638. This amount was calculated by multiplying the hourly rate for the procurement and program personnel reviewing the responses ($64.57) by the total number of responses (39,378) by average review time of 1 hour. Cost per hour ($64.57) is based on the General schedule GS14 Step 5 hourly rate of $47.39 for 2016, plus the 36.25% civilian personnel full fringe benefit rate for 2009 taken from OMB Memo M-08-13 ($47.39 X 136.25% = $64.57)
Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 (or 14) of OMB Form 83-I.
This package contains a decreased burden hour estimate from that reflected in the current Office of Management and Budget inventory. The current burden hour estimate reflected an increased burden due to an increased number of Final Technical Reports being submitted as the projects from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding (ARRA) expired and were closed out. There will be no active awards for ARRA activities in 2016. As a result the burden requirements have decreased. The number of burden hours estimated for these collections reflects what the program offices believe the normal level of responses to be without the significant additional burdens of ARRA applications and ARRA recipients.
For collections whose results will be published, outline the plans for tabulation and publication.
This package contains no collections whose results will be published for statistical use.
If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons why display would be inappropriate.
This collection is not seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of this information.
Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19 of OMB Form 83-I.
The Department is not requesting any exceptions to the certification statement provided in Item 19 of OMB Form 83-I.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | Instructions for the Supporting Statement |
| Author | BRYANTL |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-23 |