2120-0559 2020 Supporting Statement

Supporting Statement A

Aviation Research Grants Program

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection.

The Federal Aviation Administration Research, Engineering, and Development Authorization Act of

1990, P.L. 101-508, Section 9205 and Section 9208, created the Aviation Research Grant Program to be utilized by the FAA to conduct aviation research in areas deemed by the Administrator to be required for the long-term growth of civil aviation. Information is collected through a solicitation that has been published by the FAA on www.grants.gov. Prospective grantees respond to the solicitation using a proposal format outlined in the solicitation in adherence to applicable FAA directives, statutes, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulars.

2. 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.

The Administrator of the FAA is empowered under this program to make directed grants for aviation research and development deemed by the Administrator to be required for the long-term growth of civil aviation. Information is required from grantees for the purpose of grant administration and review in accordance with applicable OMB circulars (i.e., A-110, A-21, etc.). The collection of data is required in order to adhere to the statutes and OMB circulars. The information is collected through a solicitation that has been published by the FAA. Prospective grantees respond to the solicitation using a proposal format outlined in the solicitation in adherence to applicable FAA directives, statutes, and OMB circulars.

The following electronic forms are used:

1. SF 424, Application for Federal Assistance

2. FAA 9550-5, Final Project Report

3. SF 270, Request for Advance or Reimbursement

4. SF 425, Federal Financial Report

5. SF 3881, ACH Vendor/Miscellaneous Payment Enrollment Form

It is anticipated that the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support publicly disseminated information. The FAA Aviation Research Grant Program Office will retain control over the information and safeguard it from improper access, modification, and destruction, consistent with FAA standards for confidentiality, privacy, and electronic information.

Although the information is being collected it may not be expected to be disseminated directly to the public, results may be used in scientific, management, technical or general informational publications.

Finally, OMB has standards for asking questions about race or ethnicity. If you ask such questions, you must comply with those standards.

3. 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.

The FAA Aviation Research Grants Program Office currently accepts proposals solely by electronic submission of grants via the www.grants.gov website. We continue to upgrade our Grants Database to help in better serving our customers. In compliance with the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, we have developed a web site at http://www.tc.faa.gov/logistics/grants, which contains information pertaining to requirements for submission of proposals, and downloadable forms. This reduces the need for printing of handbooks, solicitations, forms, and other documents. The site contains internal FAA forms that the Technical Monitors (TMs) now fill out and submit 100% electronically. Additionally, we scan final technical grant reports so that they can be reviewed and downloaded from the web. We are also uploading grant award information on the FAA home page to enable the public to review all FAA Aviation Research Grant awards.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item 2 above.

The FAA Aviation Research Grant Program requires information from prospective grantees that is unique to the implementation of the enabling legislation and is not currently available through other programs. Similar information has not been requested from organizations meeting the legislative requirements who received Federal funding under the FAA Aviation Research Grant Program and is, therefore, not available to the FAA.

5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities, describe the methods used to minimize burden.

The information requested consists of that which is required to be in compliance with the enabling legislation and applicable OMB circulars. The Program will make use, whenever practical and efficient, of Federal Standard Forms and only those identified additional forms that are necessary for the proper administration of the Aviation Research Grant Program (reference paragraph 2 of this document).

6. 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.

The timely issuance of authorized Federal grant monies to the grantee would be hampered if the information that is required for adherence to OMB circulars and applicable legislation, regulation or rules were conducted less frequently.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner:

The requirement for the collection of information is consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

8. Provide information on the PRA Federal Register Notice that solicited public comments on the information collection prior to this submission. Summarize the public comments received in response to that notice and describe the actions taken by the agency in response to those comments. Describe the efforts to consult with persons outside the agency 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 reported.

A notice for public comments was published in the Federal Register on April 17, 2020, Document Citation 85 FR 21499, Pages 21499-21500 (2 pages). No comments were received.

9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

None.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

Portions of proposals resulting in awards that contain descriptions of inventions in which either the Federal Government or the grantee owns or may own a right, title, or interest (including a nonexclusive license) will not normally be made available to the public until after a reasonable time for the filing of a patent application. It will be the policy of the FAA to notify the grantee of requests for funded proposals in order for the grantee to advise the FAA whether there are any such inventions described in the proposal.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires that records in the possession of the FAA, including records originating elsewhere, be made available to the public unless they fall within one or more of nine exemptions. FAA’s FOIA regulations are published in 49 CFR 7.

Prior to award, FAA grant proposals are treated as exempt from disclosure because they contain confidential and personal information. After award, most information in proposals must be disclosed upon request.

Merit reviews are normally held confidential, except for disclosure (without identification of the reviewer) to the Principal Investigator. Certain Congressional committees and subcommittees may obtain copies of proposals and merit reviews including names of reviewers. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) also has access to merit reviews as part of its regular audit function.

11. 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.

Information collection of this nature is not included at this time.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. The statement should:

It is anticipated that there will be approximately 100 respondents per year. Each respondent will generally be submitting one response to the FAA’s solicitation and incur an annual burden of about 6.5 hours of form preparation time for a total of 650 hours. This was estimated based on the time it is expected to take to completely and accurately prepare the required forms for submittal to the agency. Indicated below is the estimated time that will be required to prepare the forms required:

Form Title Time/Hours

FAA 9550-5, Final Project Report 3 hours

SF 270, Request for Advance or Reimbursement 1 hour

SF 425, Federal Financial Report 1.5 hours

SF 424, Application for Federal Assistance .75 hours

SF 3881, ACH Vendor/Miscellaneous Payment Enrollment Form .25 hours

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Total: 6.5 hours

The estimated cost to the respondents for the preparation of responses to FAA solicitations is approximately $163 per year. This will total about $105,950 using the anticipated 100 respondents expected to participate. This is based on the approximate average salary of the personnel that are generally assigned the task of responding to Federal solicitations and the amount of time that will be required to prepare the necessary forms. These figures are detailed above.

13. Provide an estimate for the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information.

No additional start-up costs involved. Information included in item 12 above.

14. Provide estimates of annualized costs to the Federal government. Also, provide a description of the method used to estimate cost, which should include quantification of hours, operational expenses (such as equipment, overhead, printing, and support staff), and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.

The estimated cost to the Federal Government for the forms processing requirements of the Aviation Research Grant Program would, on average, be approximately $25,000 per year. This estimate is based on the expected grade level of proposal review personnel, which will consist of federal employees, reviewing an expected 200 responses, which include proposals, final reports, etc. on average annually and requiring approximately 3 hours to perform the review process.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.

Collection renewal.

16. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

The results of the collection of information are not intended for publication for statistical purposes.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons why display would be inappropriate.

FAA is not seeking approval to not display the expiration date.

18. Explain each exception to the topics of the certification statement identified in “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.”

There are no exceptions.