On December 27, 2020, the President
signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”).
Division N, Title V, Section 501(a)(1) of the Act provides $25
billion for the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to make
payments to States (defined to include the District of Columbia),
U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern
Mariana Islands, and American Samoa), Indian tribes or tribally
designated housing entities, as applicable, the Department of
Hawaiian Homelands, and certain local governments with more than
200,000 residents (collectively the “eligible grantees”) to provide
financial assistance and housing stability services to eligible
households. Section 501(c) requires the eligible grantees to use
the funds to provide financial assistance and housing stability
services to eligible households. Section 501(b)(1)(A) provides that
not later than 30 days after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall
pay each eligible grantee. Treasury intends to begin making
payments as soon as possible given the urgent need for the funds
being disbursed.
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 an Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2)
program information collection request, revising OMB Control Number
1505-0266. On December 27, 2020, the President signed the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”). Division N,
Title V, Section 501(a)(1) of the Act established the Emergency
Rental Assistance (ERA 1) program and provides $25 billion for the
U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to make payments to
States (defined to include the District of Columbia), U.S.
Territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern
Mariana Islands, and American Samoa), Indian tribes or tribally
designated housing entities, as applicable, the Department of
Hawaiian Homelands, and certain local governments with more than
200,000 residents (collectively the “eligible grantees”) to provide
financial assistance and housing stability services to eligible
households. Treasury is seeking approval for the ERA 1quarterly
report forms, which all ERA 1 recipients will use to submit
detailed information on their utilization of ERA 1 award funds.
This information collection is vitally important for Treasury to
fulfill its statutory reporting requirements, satisfy the PRAC
reporting requirements, and continue to effectively monitor the ERA
1 grantees’ compliance with the requirements of the ERA 1 award.
Due to the need for recipients to prepare and submit these ERA 1
quarterly reports to Treasury expeditiously, Treasury requests
emergency processing and approval of the ERA 1 quarterly report
forms, bulk upload templates, instructions, and Treasury’s Portal
User Guide by July 13, 2021 in order to increase the efficient
distribution of ERA 1 quarterly reporting guidance and to
facilitate ease of communication with the ERA 1 grantees on
reporting matters. 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.
The revision is to add the ERA
1 Quarterly Report, bulk upload templates, instructions, and
Treasury’s Portal User Guide to the PRA package, which slightly
increases the burden estimates by 45,240 hours.
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.