Coronavirus Economic Relief
for Transportation Services (CERTS)
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Emergency
12/20/2021
12/17/2021
Requested
Previously Approved
6 Months From Approved
12/31/2021
13,840
8,000
24,760
16,000
0
0
On December 27, 2020, the President
signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”).
Division N, Title IV, Subtitle B, Section 421 of the Act provides
$2 billion for the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) to
provide grants to eligible providers of transportation services
(“Recipients”) under the Coronavirus Economic Relief for
Transportation Services (“CERTS”) Program. Recipients include
motorcoach companies, school bus companies, passenger vessel
companies, and pilotage companies. Under Section 421 of the Act,
Recipients must demonstrate significant revenue losses as a result
of COVID-19, and must use grant funds for payroll costs and for
other eligible operating expenses. A Recipient must submit an
application to be considered for a CERTS grant. Treasury will
review each application submitted by the deadline to validate
company identity and eligibility, to assess the accuracy and
completeness of information submitted, and to confirm other
attributes consistent with the CERTS statute. All applications will
be subject to uniform standards of review that will be applied
equally. To determine grant amounts, Treasury will review each
applicant’s financial information, such as annual revenues and
year-over-year lost revenues, and apply a formula that provides
each approved applicant with an equitable, proportionate share of
the funding appropriated by Congress for the program.
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 Economic Relief for
Transportation Services (CERTS) program information collection
request, revising OMB Control Number 1505-0273. On December 27,
2020, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2021 (the “Act”), Pub. L. No. 116-260., Division N, Title IV,
Subtitle B, Section 3201 of the Act authorized the Coronavirus
Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) program and
provides $2. billion for the U.S. Department of the Treasury
(Treasury) to provide grants to eligible motorcoach companies,
school bus companies, passenger vessel companies, and pilotage
companies that have experienced annual revenue losses of 25 percent
or more as result of COVID-19. Treasury is seeking approval for the
CERTS quarterly reporting forms, which all CERTS recipients will
use to submit detailed information on their utilization of CERTS
award funds. This information collection is vitally important for
Treasury to effectively monitor the CERTS grantees’ compliance with
the requirements of the CERTS award. Due to the need for recipients
to prepare and submit these CERTS quarterly reports to Treasury
expeditiously, Treasury requests emergency processing and approval
of CERTS quarterly report forms, instructions, and Treasury’s
Portal User Guide by December 20, 2021 in order to increase the
efficient distribution of CERTS quarterly reporting guidance and to
facilitate ease of communication with the CERTS grantees on
reporting matters. Treasury plans to open the portal for entry on
January 2, 2022, with recipient give 45 days to enter the
information for the first submission (reports will be due February
15, 2022). Treasury would like to publish the revised guidance
expeditiously, to allow respondents, particularly small businesses,
ample time to review and prepare. In compliance with PRA regulation
(5 CFR 1320.10) to renew the OMB approval, Treasury has published a
60-day Federal Register Notice (86 FR 56760) soliciting comments on
the program, including the compliance reports. Given that the
public commenting period is still open and the need to provide
respondents time to prepare for the reporting, Treasury is
requesting emergency processing to receive OMB approval on the
reports.
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.
CERTS Compliance Report
Emergency Justification Memo - CERTS Compliance Reports_Signed.pdf
1505-0273_CERTS PRA SS.docx
CERTS Compliance Report