Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS)

Forms and Documents

Document	Type	Status	Availability
CERTS Compliance Report	Form and Instruction	New	Repair queued
CERTS Application Form	Form and Instruction	Unchanged	Repair queued
Emergency Justification Memo - CERTS Compliance Reports_Signed.pdf	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2021-12-17	Repair queued
CERTS Emergency Justification Memo 2021-06-17 signed.pdf	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2021-06-17	Repair queued
1505-0273_CERTS PRA SS.docx	Supporting Statement A	Uploaded 2021-12-16	Repair queued

IC Document Collections

IC ID	Collection	Type	Status	Form
250830	CERTS Compliance Report	Form and Instruction	New
247965	CERTS Application Form	Form and Instruction	Unchanged

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 1505-0273	ICR Reference No: 202112-1505-004
Status: Received in OIRA	Previous ICR Reference No: 202106-1505-003
Agency/Subagency: TREAS/DO	Agency Tracking No:
Title: Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS)
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Emergency	Approval Requested By: 12/20/2021
Date Submitted to OIRA: 12/17/2021

	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	6 Months From Approved	12/31/2021
Responses	13,840	8,000
Time Burden (Hours)	24,760	16,000
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0

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Abstract: 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.

Emergency Justfication: 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.

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Authorizing Statute(s): PL: Pub.L. 116 - 68 421 Name of Law: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
  

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: PL: Pub.L. 116 - 68 421 Name of Law: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021

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Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

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Federal Register Notices & Comments

Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

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Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 2

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
CERTS Application Form	N/A	CERTS Application
CERTS Compliance Report	n/a	CERTS Compliance Reports

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ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Request	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	13,840	8,000	0	5,840	0	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	24,760	16,000	0	8,760	0	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: This revision request is to add the CERTS Compliance Reports to the OMB approval and will increase the burden by 8,760 hours.

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Annual Cost to Federal Government: $25,000,000

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination.     No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Yes

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Common Form ICR:  No

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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:

(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;

(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;

(c) It reduces burden on small entities;

(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;

(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;

(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;

(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:

(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;

(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and

(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

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.

Certification Date: 12/17/2021

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