Songwriting Challenge POL Justification 9.2021

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Justification - Supporting Statement
1. Necessity of Information Collection
The National Endowment for the Arts’ mission is “to advance artistic excellence,
creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities.”
The Chairman establishes eligibility requirements and criteria for the review of
applications for funding as authorized by the agency’s enabling legislation (20
U.S.C. §954).
The Application Form, for which clearance is requested, is used to gather basic
information from youth applying to Agency Initiatives Poetry Out Loud, the Musical
Theater Songwriting Challenge for High School Students, or other agency initiatives
for youth. Information is needed to verify eligibility for the program and to facilitate
judging of the entries.
2. Needs and Uses of Information
The National Endowment for the Arts needs this information in order to verify
eligibility, as well as for obtaining the actual content of the applications to distribute
to the judges for review. In the case of the Songwriting Challenge, the geographic
information collected is necessary to ensure applications will be judged according to
which region the entrant is from, ensuring geographic diversity in the selected
finalists.
3. Uses of Information Technology
The use of information technology has been a prime consideration in the design of
this form. Entries will be uploaded and adjudicated completely online.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
The National Endowment for the Arts has carefully analyzed existing forms to make
certain that there is no duplication with the information requested.
Applicants will apply for a single, specific project. This project changes from year to
year. Much of the information collected one year is not relevant to the next year’s
request.
5. Minimizing the Burden in Small Businesses or Small Entities
Not Applicable
6. Consequences of Not Conducting Data Collection

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Judges review applications on their merits and in competition with other applications.
If the requested information were not collected, judges would not have consistent
information on which to base their evaluations. The National Endowment for the Arts
would be unable to ensure the fair and accountable application review.
7. Special Circumstances
Not Applicable
8. Public Comment and Consultation Outside the Agency
The collection is conducted consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6. A notice
in the Federal Register was published on July 27, 2021 (86 FR 40216), to solicit
comments on the approval of the data collection. No comments were received.
9. Payment to Respondents
Not Applicable
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
Assurance of confidentiality is provided under the terms of the Privacy Act of 1974.
11. Questions of a Sensitive Nature
No questions of a sensitive nature are included in the information collection.
12. Estimated Hour Burden of Respondents
Hour Burden to Respondents
Number of
Potential
Applicants

300

x

Time to Complete
Form

x

1 hour

=

Total (Annual) Hour
Burden to Respondents

=

300.0 hours

There is no cost to the respondent other than that of their time to respond.
13. Cost Burden to Respondent
Not applicable. There are no annual costs to respondents or recordkeepers resulting
from this collection of information.

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14. Cost to the Federal Government
The total annual cost to the federal government is calculated as follows: NEA
support staff spend approximately 15 minutes per response processing data
submitted by respondents. We averaged the pay of a GS-9/Step 1 Support Staff
person (using the Office of Personnel Management Salary Tables for the D.C. area)
to come up with an average hourly rate of $29. To this, we added 31% fringe
benefits for a total average hourly wage of $38. Approximately 300 responses from
the public are processed per year, resulting in a total Support Staff cost of $2,850.
(300 responses per year x $38/hour x 15 minutes = $2,850.) In addition,
approximately $500 per year is spent for IT system programming and development.
(Average hourly IT contract expenses of $100/hour x 5 hours = $500.) The total
annual cost of Support Staff salaries and IT contractor expenses equals $3,350.
15. Explanation of Changes
Under Video File submission, sample questions or “prompt” questions have been
added to the area where respondents provide information about themselves.
Respondents have the option of providing this information via a PDF written
response if they do not wish to submit a video.
16. Statistics
Not applicable. We do not plan to publish data.
17. Seeking Approval to Not Display OMB Expiration date
Not applicable. We are not seeking this approval.
18. Exception to the Certificate Statement
Not applicable. There are no exceptions to the certification statements.