1810-0646_REAP_Supporting Statement Part A_FY23_30-day 7.29

Tracking and OMB Number: 1810-0646

Revised: XX/XX/XXXX

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

FOR PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. What is the purpose for this information collection? Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Include a citation that authorizes the collection of information. Specify the review type of the collection (new, revision, extension, reinstatement with change, reinstatement without change). If revised, briefly specify the changes. If a rulemaking is involved, list the sections with a brief description of the information collection requirement, and/or changes to sections, if applicable.

The Department administers two grant programs under Title V, Part B (Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA): the Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) program (administered by the Department, which makes awards directly to local educational agencies (LEAs)) and the Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) program (awarded by the Department to SEAs, which then make awards to and administer the program for LEAs, except that the Department may also make RLIS awards directly to LEAs in States that do not submit an approvable RLIS application to the Department. The LEAs that apply directly to the Department under RLIS are known as Specially Qualified Agencies (SQAs)).

The information shared with the Department enables the Department to make eligibility determinations for LEAs and to calculate formula allocations for each eligible LEA. Form 1 consists of the REAP Eligibility Spreadsheet through which SEAs provide to the Department eligibility and allocation data for both the RLIS and SRSA programs. Form 2 consists of the application package for LEAs under the SRSA program. Form 3 consists of the application package for SQAs under the RLIS program. This is a request for renewal with revision of current information collection package (OMB #1810-0646), updated to include process improvements and enhance consistency across Forms 1,2, and 3. Updates include clarifications to data collection processes (e.g., which year data is requested), improved question structure, and process improvements related to LEA eligibility (e.g., clarifying virtual and operational status). Additionally, there is an adjustment to the total annual burden hours related to Form 2, which is due to a decrease in the number of respondents.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

The information collected from SEAs through Form 1 is used on an annual basis to determine LEA eligibility for the programs and to allocate funds to eligible LEAs. The information from Forms 2 and 3 is used to annually process grant awards under the SRSA and RLIS programs, respectively.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision of adopting this means of collection. Please identify systems or websites used to electronically collect this information. Also describe any consideration given to using technology to reduce burden. If there is an increase or decrease in burden related to using technology (e.g. using an electronic form, system or website from paper), please explain in number 12.

SEAs submit responses via a spreadsheet on an online portal (MAX Community) and LEAs submit written responses via an online platform (MAX Survey). The online platforms increase efficiency for SEAs and LEAs.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item 2 above.

The REAP application forms do not duplicate any other information collection effort.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden. A small entity may be (1) a small business which is deemed to be one that is independently owned and operated and that is not dominant in its field of operation; (2) a small organization that is any not-for-profit enterprise that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field; or (3) a small government jurisdiction, which is a government of a city, county, town, township, school district, or special district with a population of less than 50,000.

Neither small businesses nor small entities are affected by this collection. Small LEAs are affected by this program. To minimize burden for these small entities, the Department proposes an application package that contains only data necessary to determine eligibility, formula allocations, and intended uses of funds.

6. Describe the consequences to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

If the data in Form 1 is not collected, the Department will be unable to make SRSA and RLIS grant awards, because it will not be able to determine eligibility or calculate formula allocations without data from SEAs. Moreover, if LEAs do not submit Forms 2 or 3, the Department will not have a legal agreement on which to base grant awards. Similarly, if Forms 1, 2, or 3 are not collected annually, the Department will be at risk of issuing grant awards to LEAs that have closed or are ineligible, or of entering into an agreement based on incorrect grantee information.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner:

• requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;

• requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

• requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;

• requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

• in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results than can be generalized to the universe of study;

• requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;

• that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or that unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or

• requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secrets, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information’s confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.

None of the special circumstances apply to this collection.

8. As applicable, state that the Department has published the 60 and 30 Federal Register notices as required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB.

Include a citation for the 60 day comment period (e.g. Vol. 84 FR ##### and the date of publication). Summarize public comments received in response to the 60 day notice and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments. Specifically address comments received on cost and hour burden. If only non-substantive comments are provided, please provide a statement to that effect and that it did not relate or warrant any changes to this information collection request. In your comments, please also indicate the number of public comments received.

For the 30 day notice, indicate that a notice will be published.

Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instruction and record keeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

Consultation with representatives of those from whom information is to be obtained or those who must compile records should occur at least once every 3 years – even if the collection of information activity is the same as in prior periods. There may be circumstances that may preclude consultation in a specific situation. These circumstances should be explained.

On May 11, 2022, a Federal Register Notice requesting public comment was published (Vol 87, No 91, page 28820). The Department received three comments and responded to two of them in a separate document; the Department opted not to respond to the third comment as it was off topic. Now the Department is publishing the applicable 30-day Federal Register notice to request public comment.

8. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees with meaningful justification.

These data are collected from grantee SEAs and LEAs and subgrantee LEAs. No remuneration, outside of grant funds allocated to the SEAs and LEAs by formula, is made.

8. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy. If personally identifiable information (PII) is being collected, a Privacy Act statement should be included on the instrument. Please provide a citation for the Systems of Record Notice and the date a Privacy Impact Assessment was completed as indicated on the IC Data Form. A confidentiality statement with a legal citation that authorizes the pledge of confidentiality should be provided.¹ If the collection is subject to the Privacy Act, the Privacy Act statement is deemed sufficient with respect to confidentiality. If there is no expectation of confidentiality, simply state that the Department makes no pledge about the confidentiality of the data. If no PII will be collected, state that no assurance of confidentiality is provided to respondents. If the Paperwork Burden Statement is not included physically on a form, you may include it here. Please ensure that your response per respondent matches the estimate provided in number 12.

There is no assurance of confidentiality provided to the respondents.

8. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. The justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

Not applicable. This collection contains no questions of a sensitive nature.

8. Provide estimates of the hour burden for this current information collection request. The statement should:

• Provide an explanation of how the burden was estimated, including identification of burden type: recordkeeping, reporting or third party disclosure. Address changes in burden due to the use of technology (if applicable). Generally, estimates should not include burden hours for customary and usual business practices.

• Please do not include increases in burden and respondents numerically in this table. Explain these changes in number 15.

• Indicate the number of respondents by affected public type (federal government, individuals or households, private sector – businesses or other for-profit, private sector – not-for-profit institutions, farms, state, local or tribal governments), frequency of response, annual hour burden. Unless directed to do so, agencies should not conduct special surveys to obtain information on which to base hour burden estimates. Consultation with a sample (fewer than 10) of potential respondents is desirable.

• If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form and aggregate the hour burden in the table below.

• Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents of the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories. Use this site to research the appropriate wage rate. The cost of contracting out or paying outside parties for information collection activities should not be included here. Instead, this cost should be included in Item 14. If there is no cost to respondents, indicate by entering 0 in the chart below and/or provide a statement.

Provide a descriptive narrative here in addition to completing the table below with burden hour estimates.

Approximately 49 SEA grantees and 4,516 LEA grantees interact with the Department during this information collection, over a multi-year period, each grant cycle. The burden differences across reporting entities are limited, so all entities are assigned the same estimated reporting burden of one full-time equivalent (FTE) per reporting entity. The annualized cost related to the respondent burden time is estimated to be $206,000 (4,120 hours multiplied by an average wage of $50 per hour). There is a wide range of hourly salaries associated with the professionals that participate in REAP activities, making this estimation approximate.

Estimated Annual Burden and Respondent Costs Table

Information Activity or IC (with type of respondent)	Sample Size (if applicable)	Respondent Response Rate (if applicable)	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses	Average Burden Hours per Response	Total Annual Burden Hours	Estimated Respondent Average Hourly Wage	Total Annual Costs (hourly wage x total burden hours)
Form 1: RLIS and SRSA Data			49	1 per respondent	38 hours per year	1,862 per year	$50	$93,100
Form 2: SRSA Application			4,500	1 per respondent	.5 hours per year	2,250 per year	$50	$112,500
Form 3: SQA Application			16	1 per respondent	.5 hours per year	8 per year	$50	$400
Annualized Totals			4,565			4,120		$206,000

Please ensure the annual total burden, respondents and response match those entered in IC Data Parts 1 and 2, and the response per respondent matches the Paperwork Burden Statement that must be included on all forms.

8. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information. (Do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in Items 12 and 14.)

• The cost estimate should be split into two components: (a) a total capital and start-up cost component (annualized over its expected useful life); and (b) a total operation and maintenance and purchase of services component. The estimates should take into account costs associated with generating, maintaining, and disclosing or providing the information. Include descriptions of methods used to estimate major cost factors including system and technology acquisition, expected useful life of capital equipment, the discount rate(s), and the time period over which costs will be incurred. Capital and start-up costs include, among other items, preparations for collecting information such as purchasing computers and software; monitoring, sampling, drilling and testing equipment; and acquiring and maintaining record storage facilities.

• If cost estimates are expected to vary widely, agencies should present ranges of cost burdens and explain the reasons for the variance. The cost of contracting out information collection services should be a part of this cost burden estimate. In developing cost burden estimates, agencies may consult with a sample of respondents (fewer than 10), utilize the 60-day pre-OMB submission public comment process and use existing economic or regulatory impact analysis associated with the rulemaking containing the information collection, as appropriate.

• Generally, estimates should not include purchases of equipment or services, or portions thereof, made: (1) prior to October 1, 1995, (2) to achieve regulatory compliance with requirements not associated with the information collection, (3) for reasons other than to provide information or keep records for the government or (4) as part of customary and usual business or private practices. Also, these estimates should not include the hourly costs (i.e., the monetization of the hours) captured above in Item 12.

Total Annualized Capital/Startup Cost : None

Total Annual Costs (O&M) : None

Total Annualized Costs Requested : None

For the foreseeable future REAP applications will require no additional systems development efforts by SEAs or LEAs and there are no associated capital or startup costs.

8. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government. Also, provide a description of the method used to estimate cost, which should include quantification of hours, operational expenses (such as equipment, overhead, printing, and support staff), and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information. Agencies also may aggregate cost estimates from Items 12, 13, and 14 in a single table.

Approximately five full-time equivalents spend approximately 500 hours each on the processing of the forms and related activities including technical assistance to SEAs and LEAs. The annualized cost for the Federal Government is estimated to be $125,000 (2,500 hours multiplied by an average wage of $50 per hour). There is a wide range of hourly salaries associated with REAP Program Officers, making this estimation approximate.

8. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments. Generally, adjustments in burden result from re-estimating burden and/or from economic phenomenon outside of an agency’s control (e.g., correcting a burden estimate or an organic increase in the size of the reporting universe). Program changes result from a deliberate action that materially changes a collection of information and generally are result of new statute or an agency action (e.g., changing a form, revising regulations, redefining the respondent universe, etc.). Burden changes should be disaggregated by type of change (i.e., adjustment, program change due to new statute, and/or program change due to agency discretion), type of collection (new, revision, extension, reinstatement with change, reinstatement without change) and include totals for changes in burden hours, responses and costs (if applicable).

Provide a descriptive narrative for the reasons of any change in addition to completing the table with the burden hour change(s) here.

The adjustment in annual burden hours results from a decrease in the number of annual respondents associated with Form 2. Based on recent historical data, there are fewer respondents associated with Form 2 than were projected (the number of respondants is estimated to be 4,500 rather than 6,000). Forms 1 and 3 are not impacted by this adjustment.

	Program Change Due to New Statute	Program Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate
Total Burden			-16,563
Total Responses			-1,515
Total Costs (if applicable)

8. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

The results of these collections will not be published. Therefore this question is not applicable.

8. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

Ongoing annual collection, starting November 2023.

8. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in the Certification of Paperwork Reduction Act.

This collection does not seek any exceptions to the certification statement identified in the Certification of Paperwork Reduction Act.

1 Requests for this information are in accordance with the following ED and OMB policies: Privacy Act of 1974, OMB Circular A-108 – Privacy Act Implementation – Guidelines and Responsibilities, OMB Circular A-130 Appendix I – Federal Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About Individuals, OMB M-03-22 – OMB Guidance for Implementing the Privacy Provisions of the E-Government Act of 2002, OMB M-06-15 – Safeguarding Personally Identifiable Information, OM:6-104 – Privacy Act of 1974 (Collection, Use and Protection of Personally Identifiable Information)

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