information collection burdens clarified during OMB review.
In response to the emergency request memorandum submitted by Treasury on 11/2/2022, OIRA is approving Treasury's request for emergency consideration of OMB control # 1505-0266 for a period of six months. Prior to the expiration of this package in six months, Treasury shall undertake standard notice and comment procedures and describe in its next ICR submission all comments received and the extent to which commenters' recommendations were adopted.
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
05/31/2023
6 Months From Approved
02/28/2025
4,653
0
6,576
62,678
0
49,973
0
0
0
On December 27, 2020, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the âActâ). Division N, Title V, Section 501(a)(1) of the Act provides $25 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), Indian tribes or tribally designated housing entities, as applicable, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, and certain local governments with more than 200,000 residents (collectively the âeligible granteesâ) to provide financial assistance and housing stability services to eligible households.
Pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures established at 5 C.F.R. § 1320.13, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) requests emergency processing for an Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA1) program information collection request, revising OMB Control Number 1505-0266.
Treasury administers the ERA1 program which was authorized by Division N, Title V, Section 501 (a)(1) of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the âActâ). The Act provided $25 billion for Treasury to make payments to States(defined to include the District of Columbia), U.S. Territories, Indian Tribes or their Tribally designated housing entities, as applicable, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, and certain local governments with more than 200,000 residents (collectively the âeligible granteesâ) to provide financial assistance and housing stability services to eligible households in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Treasury made ERA1 awards to more than 700 eligible grantees in early 2021.
Treasury is seeking approval for the ERA1final report form which each ERA1 grantee will be required to use to report on their utilization of ERA1 award funds over the entire award period of performance. This information collection is vitally important for Treasury to fulfill its statutory public reporting requirements, satisfy the Pandemic Relief Accountability Committee (PRAC) reporting requirements, and continue to effectively monitor and oversee the ERA1 granteesâ compliance with the ERA1 Award Terms.
The ERA1 final report will require grantees to calculate and submit cumulative data on several key performance metrics covering the entire award period of performance. In addition, based on Treasuryâs need to properly reconcile and align the grantee-reported data, Treasury has recently determined the need to require grantees, as part of their final report, to verify and revise, if necessary, details of subrecipient expenditure records that were previously reported on quarterly reports throughout the award period of performance.
The award period of performance for a total of 465 ERA1 grantees ended on September 30, 2022, and the final report for these grantees will be due by January 30, 2023. The final report due date coincides with the award closeout date for federal award recipients, which is set forth in 2 CFR 200.344(a), and requires all federal award recipients to closeout their awards by no later than 120 calendar days after the end of their award period of performance. As a result, providing the final report template to ERA1 grantee expeditiously will be critical to meeting this deadline.
Due to the need for ERA1 grantees to prepare and submit their ERA1 final report to Treasury expeditiously, Treasuryâs requests emergency processing and approval of the ERA1 final report form and draft instructions by November 3, 2022 in order to develop and distribute the online report templates and associated reporting guidance so that these grantees whose award period of performance ends on September 30, 2022 will have sufficient time to gather the required data and to prepare and submit complete and accurate reports to Treasury by the January 30, 2023 deadline. In addition, approval ensures adequate time for Treasuryâs planned communications with the ERA1 grantees about the final reporting procedures and the need for complete and accurate data.
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 15,080 hours of burden due to the addition of the ERA 1 Final Report and instructions. This is partially offset by the removal of several previously approved forms that are no longer needed (Obligated Funds Certification, Program Improvement Plan, Request for Reallocated Funds, Voluntary Reallocation Letter), which reduce burden by 2,375 hours.
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.
ERA1 Final Report
Emergency Justification Memo - ERA1 Final Report 2022-10-13.docx
Final Report