Emergency Justification Memo

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON, D.C.

TO:

Alex Goodenough, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

FROM:

Ryan Law, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Privacy, Transparency, and Records

SUBJECT:

Justification for Emergency Processing: Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF)
Grant Application

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 a
Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF) information collection request, including issuance of a
new OMB Control Number.
The CPF was established by Section 604 of the Social Security Act, as added by Section 9901 of
the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) Pub. L. No. 117-2. ARPA appropriated
$10 billion to the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to provide grant payments to states,
territories, freely associated states, and Tribal governments “to carry out critical capital projects
directly enabling work, education, and health monitoring, including remote options, in response
to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)”.
Treasury is seeking approval for the CPF grant application form that will be hosted on
Treasury’s web-based portal. This grant application will be used by an estimated 656 eligible
recipients to apply online for CPF funds. The collected data will be used to verify applicant
identities, assess eligibility, and ultimately issue payments. This information collection is
necessary for Treasury to launch the CPF.
The CPF was established as an emergency measure. Recipients are expected to use CPF grant
funds to, among other things, directly address connectivity shortfalls exacerbated by the
pandemic which make it challenging for some communities to access work, education, and
health monitoring services. Due to the need for recipients to request funds from Treasury as
soon as possible, Treasury requests emergency processing and approval of the CPF grant
application form by September 14, 2021. There is insufficient time available before Treasury’s
scheduled launch date to seek public comment. Therefore, Treasury requests a waiver from the
requirement to publish a notice in the Federal Register seeking public comment.