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 program
information collection request. 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. Treasury is seeking approval for three new forms
required to implement the directive in Section 501(d) of the Act
requiring Treasury to identify excess funds among payments made to
eligible grantees and provide for their reallocation to areas of
demonstrated need. The statute required Treasury to begin this
process on September 30, 2021. Treasury’s recently published
reallocation guidance requires grantees to report by November 15,
2021 the amount of funds from their initial awards that are
obligated and therefore insulated from reallocation. In addition,
eligible grantees who have not met certain spending thresholds will
be required to provide an improvement plan by November 15, 2021 as
a condition to avoiding or reducing an immediate excess funds
designation. Treasury has authorized high-performing grantees to
begin submitting requests for reallocated funds on October 15,
2021. Treasury has developed three forms for these purposes—a
Certification of Obligation; Request for Reallocated Funds; and
Program Improvement Plan. It is essential for these forms to be
made available to eligible grantees as soon as possible to ensure
adequate time for preparation and submission prior to November 15,
as well as to ensure Treasury’s ability to accurately track and
respond to the demand for reallocated funds. Accordingly, Treasury
requests emergency processing and approval on October 22, 2021 to
be able to be able to publish and provide the forms that day. 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
Certification of Obligation, Program Improvement Plan, and Request
for Reallocated Funds to the PRA package, which increases the
burden estimates by 2,175 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.