On December 27, 2020, the President
signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”).
Division N, Title IV, Subtitle B, Section 421 of the Act provides
$2 billion for the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) to
provide grants to eligible providers of transportation services
(“Recipients”) under the Coronavirus Economic Relief for
Transportation Services (“CERTS”) Program. Recipients include
motorcoach companies, school bus companies, passenger vessel
companies, and pilotage companies. Under Section 421 of the Act,
Recipients must demonstrate significant revenue losses as a result
of COVID-19, and must use grant funds for payroll costs and for
other eligible operating expenses. A Recipient must submit an
application to be considered for a CERTS grant. Treasury will
review each application submitted by the deadline to validate
company identity and eligibility, to assess the accuracy and
completeness of information submitted, and to confirm other
attributes consistent with the CERTS statute. All applications will
be subject to uniform standards of review that will be applied
equally. To determine grant amounts, Treasury will review each
applicant’s financial information, such as annual revenues and
year-over-year lost revenues, and apply a formula that provides
each approved applicant with an equitable, proportionate share of
the funding appropriated by Congress for the program.
Pursuant to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures established at 5 C.F.R. §
1320.13, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) requests
emergency processing for the Coronavirus Economic Relief for
Transportation Services (“CERTS”) information collection request.
On December 27, 2020, the President signed the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”). Division N, Title IV,
Subtitle B, Section 421 of the Act provides $2 billion for the U.S.
Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) to provide grants to
eligible providers of transportation services (“Recipients”) under
the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services
(“CERTS”) Program. Recipients include motorcoach companies, school
bus companies, passenger vessel companies, and pilotage companies.
Under Section 421 of the Act, Recipients must demonstrate
significant revenue losses as a result of COVID-19 and must use
grant funds for payroll costs and for other eligible operating
expenses. Treasury requests that OMB approve the CERTS application
by June 17, 2021. Due to the need to make payments expeditiously to
the eligible grantees under section 421, it is not possible to
follow normal clearance procedures. Given the inability to seek
public comment during such a short timeframe, Treasury requests a
waiver from the requirement to publish notice in the Federal
Register seeking public comment during the period of OMB
review.
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.
CERTS Application Form
CERTS Emergency Justification Memo 2021-06-17 signed.pdf
CERTS PRA Supporting Statement 2021-06-17 Final.docx
CERTS Application Form