On March 11, 2021, the President
signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “Act”), Pub. L.
No. 117-2. Title III, Subtitle B, Section 3201of the Act provides
$21.55 billion for the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury)
to make payments to States (defined to include the District of
Columbia), U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands,
Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa), and certain
local governments with more than 200,000 residents (collectively
the “eligible grantees”) to provide financial assistance and
housing stability services to eligible households, and cover the
costs for other affordable rental housing and eviction prevention
activities for eligible households.
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 an Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2)
program information collection request. On March 11, 2021, the
President signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “Act”),
Pub. L. No. 117-2. Title III, Subtitle B, Section 3201 of the Act
provides $21.55 billion for the Department of the Treasury
(Treasury) to make payments to States (defined to include the
District of Columbia), U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin
Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa), and
certain local governments with more than 200,000 residents
(collectively, “grantees”) to provide financial assistance and
housing stability services to eligible households, and to cover the
costs for other affordable rental housing and eviction prevention
activities, as defined by the Secretary, serving very low-income
families. Under the ERA2 program, Treasury pays each grantee
portions of its initial ERA2 allocation in tranches as the grantee
obligates funds already received. Section 3201(e) of the Act
provides that “[b]eginning March 31, 2022, the Secretary shall
reallocate funds allocated to eligible grantees … but not yet paid
… according to a procedure established by the Secretary.” Treasury
previously obtained approval of its reallocation portal, which
collects grantee information necessary to carry out the
reallocation procedure and now seeks approval of an addition to the
portal that will collect information necessary to carry out the
second round of ERA2 reallocation. In reallocation based on Quarter
2 assessments, Treasury’s prioritization process (set forth in
previously submitted ERA2 Reallocation Guidance ) considers whether
grantees have expended non-ERA funds on rental or utility
assistance. In order to implement this process, Treasury must
collect information on such expenditures. Accordingly, the proposed
portal addition, which will allow grantees to report their non-ERA
expenditures on rental or utility assistance, is crucial for
Treasury to carry out reallocation based on Quarter 2 assessments
in a timely manner. Certain eligible grantees have exhausted, or
will soon exhaust, their initial ERA2 allocations, while other
grantees are unlikely to use all of the funds allocated to them. In
order for Treasury to continue providing ERA2 resources to grantees
experiencing the greatest need and ability to disburse assistance,
and to avoid disruptions in the delivery of assistance to eligible
households, Treasury requests emergency processing of its proposed
addition to its ERA2 reallocation portal. Pursuant to the ERA2
statute, Treasury has initiated elements of the reallocation
procedure that rely on information already reported, but completion
of the reallocation process for Quarter 2 will require Treasury to
collect information regarding grantees’ non-ERA expenditures. In
light of the emergency nature of the ERA2 program and the second
round of reallocation already underway, Treasury hopes to have
approval of its addition to the ERA2 portal by August 18, 2022 to
ensure that there is sufficient time to implement the portal and
trouble-shoot any technical issues before accepting grantee
submissions. Given the inability to seek public comment during such
a short timeframe, Treasury requests a waiver from the requirement
to publish notice in the Federal Register seeking public
comment.
There is an increase of 92
hours in the burden due to the addition of a Non-ERA Expenditures
Report and a second round of Requests for Reallocated Funds.
However there is a decrease of 425 hours due to revised estimates
of both the number of reallocation applications received and the
time needed to prepare the reallocation request, based on the
program’s experience. Approximately 100 reallocation requests were
received in the first round (instead of the previously estimated
400) and the same number of requests are estimated to be received
for the second round.
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.
Portal: Non-ERA Expenditures Report
ERA2 1505-0270-Emergency Justification Memo - ERA2 Round 2 Reallocation Portal - 7.28.22.docx
Portal: Non-ERA Expenditures Report