On March 11, 2021, the President signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the âActâ), Pub. L. No. 117-2. Title III, Subtitle B, Section 3201of the Act provides $21.55 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), and certain local governments with more than 200,000 residents (collectively the âeligible granteesâ) to provide financial assistance and housing stability services to eligible households, and cover the costs for other affordable rental housing and eviction prevention activities for eligible households.
Section 3201(d)(1) requires the eligible grantees to use the funds to provide financial assistance and housing stability services to eligible households, and cover costs for other affordable rental housing and eviction prevention activities for eligible households. Section 3201(c)(1) provides that not later than 60 days after March 11, 2021, the Secretary shall pay each eligible grantee not less than 40% of each granteeâs total allocation. 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 1505-0270.
On March 11, 2021, the President signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the âActâ), Pub. L. No. 117-2. Title III, Subtitle B, Section 3201 of the Act authorized the Emergency Assistance (ERA2) program and provides $21.55 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), and certain local governments with more than 200,000 residents (collectively the âeligible granteesâ) to provide financial assistance and housing stability services to eligible households, and cover the costs for other affordable rental housing and eviction prevention activities for eligible households.
Treasury is seeking approval for the ERA 2 quarterly report forms, which all ERA 2 recipients will use to submit detailed information on their utilization of ERA 2 award funds. This information collection is vitally important for Treasury to effectively monitor the ERA 2 granteesâ compliance with the requirements of the ERA 2 award.
Due to the need for recipients to prepare and submit these ERA 2 quarterly reports to Treasury expeditiously, Treasury requests emergency processing and approval of ERA 2 quarterly report forms, bulk upload templates, instructions, and Treasuryâs Portal User Guide by July 13, 2021 in order to increase the efficient distribution of ERA 2 quarterly reporting guidance and to facilitate ease of communication with the ERA 2 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 2 Quarterly Report, bulk upload templates, instructions, and Treasuryâs 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.