Emergency Justification Memo

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20220

TO:

Alex Goodenough, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

FROM:

Ryan Law, Deputy Assistant Secretary
Office of Privacy, Transparency, and Records

SUBJECT:

Justification for Emergency Processing: Updating Collection 1505-0274 Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF) Grant Plan

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 updating
the existing Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF) information collection (OMB Control
Number: 1505-0274).
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 Plan that will be hosted on Treasury’s web-based
portal. This Grant Plan will be used by an estimated 59 eligible recipients to submit required
supporting information to receive project funding. The collected data will be used to verify
proposed Programs for conformance with ARPA and program guidance published by Treasury.
This information collection is necessary for Treasury to assess grant proposals and to making
payments under 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 Plan
form by November 24, 2021. Treasury must begin making payments immediately in order to
comply with the intent of ARPA. There is insufficient time available to seek public comment on
this collection. Therefore, Treasury requests a waiver from the requirement to publish a notice in
the Federal Register seeking public comment.