Emergency Memo

United States Department of Education

January 15, 2021

MEMORANDUM

TO: Lindsay Abate

Office of Management and Budget Desk Officer

FROM: Andrew Brake

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Information Collection Coordinator

RE: Emergency request for Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) approval

Pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures established at 5 CFR 1320, the US Department of Education (Department) requests that the following collection of information, the example application for the Emergency Assistance to Non Public Schools (EANS) Program under section 312(d) of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSA Act), Pub. L. 116-260, be processed in accordance with section 1320.13 Emergency Processing. Section 312(d)(3) of the CRRSA Act requires that any State educational agency receiving funds to provide services or assistance to non-public schools shall make an application for those services available to non-public schools no later than 30 days after the receipt of such funds. The Department announced the availability of the EANS funds on January 8, 2021 and will be awarding funds no later than 15 days after receipt of a Governor’s application.

In order to reduce the burden on States, the Department has created an example application States could use to collect the information required under section 312(d)(3)(B). The Department will not require States to use the example application, nor will it collect the application from States or non-public schools. The example application requests only information that is required by the under section 312(d)(3)(B). The example application will also reduce the burden on non-public schools as it requests the minimum required information under section 312(d)(3)(B). Additionally, within the example application, Part A and Part B request only information necessary to identify a respondent and affirmations that the non-public school is eligible. The remaining two parts of the application, Part C and Part D, request only information that is required by the statute.

Given the short timeframe, the Department is unable to consult with the public prior to issuing the example application, however the Department has ample experience designing other similar forms in a way that is clear and minimizes burden. We estimate that the example application will take 2 hours for a non-public school to complete and submit to the State. The Department requests approval of this submission by January 14, 2021. Given the inability to seek public comment during such a short timeframe for this emergency collection, the Department will also provide 60-day language as part of the notice in the Federal Register seeking public comment for the regular information collection.

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