On December 27, 2020, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the âActâ). 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 âeligible granteesâ) 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 âActâ). 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 âeligible granteesâ) 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. Treasuryâs 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 purposesâa 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 Treasuryâs 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.
Request for Reallocated Funds
1505-0266 Emergency Justification Memo - ERA1 Reallocation Forms_Signed.pdf
1505-0266 Supporting Statement - ERA1 Reallocation Forms.docx
Request for Reallocated Funds