HEERF No Cost Extension (NCE) Request Form

Forms and Documents

Forms and supporting documents for this ICR

Document	Type	Status	Availability
HEERF No Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New	Available
Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New	Repair queued
HEERF No Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New	Available
Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New	Repair queued
HEERF No Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New	Repair queued
Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New	Repair queued
Supporting Statement Part A_HEERF Extension Form 4.21.23.docx	Supporting Statement A	Uploaded 2023-04-21	Available
Supporting Statement Part A_HEERF Extension Form 4.21.23.docx	Supporting Statement A	Uploaded 2023-04-21	Repair queued
HEERF NCE OMB Emergency Clearance Request Memo 4.17.23 (004) NP signed.docx	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2023-04-21	Available
HEERF NCE OMB Emergency Clearance Request Memo 4.17.23 (004) NP signed.docx	Supplementary Document	Uploaded 2023-04-21	Repair queued

IC Document Collections

Information collection document groups

IC ID	Collection	Type	Status	Form
259819	Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New	HEERF No Cost Extension Request Form
259819	Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New
259818	Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New	HEERF No Cost Extension Request Form
259818	Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New
259816	Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New	HEERF No Cost Extension Request Form
259816	Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	Form	New

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 1840-0864	ICR Reference No: 202304-1840-001
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No:
Agency/Subagency: ED/OPE	Agency Tracking No:
Title: HEERF No Cost Extension (NCE) Request Form
Type of Information Collection: New collection (Request for a new OMB Control Number)	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Emergency	Approval Requested By: 05/03/2023
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 05/03/2023
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 04/21/2023
Terms of Clearance:

table that charts list comparision

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	11/30/2023	6 Months From Approved
Responses	720	0	0
Time Burden (Hours)	360	0	0
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

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Abstract: The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) authorizes the Secretary of Education to allocate formula grant funds to participating institutions of higher education (IHEs) to address impacts of COVID-19. To date, the Department has made over 18,000 awards to over 5,100 IHEs totaling $76.3 billion. In both volume of grants and amount of funding, HEERF is one of the largest grant programs in agency history. On June 30, 2023, the project period for most HEERF grants will end and any remaining unliquidated grant funds will be returned to Treasury. Pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 200.308(e)(2) and 34 C.F.R. § 75.261(a), grantees have the option to receive up to a twelve-month No-Cost Extension (NCE) of their grant project periods. The Department is requesting emergency approval of a new information collection to allow for HEERF grantees to request an extension beyond June 30, 2023 and ensure that grantees have a thought-out plan for using their remaining HEERF grant funds to address the lingering effects and impacts related to COVID-19.

Emergency Justfication: On June 30, 2023, the project period for most HEERF grants will end and any remaining unliquidated grant funds will be returned to Treasury. Pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 200.308(e)(2) and 34 C.F.R. § 75.261(a), grantees have the option to receive up to a twelve-month No-Cost Extension (NCE) of their grant project periods. This option is usually granted pro-forma in the Department’s non-COVID relief programs; however, the regulation in 2 C.F.R. § 200.308(e)(2) requires that any extension must not be “exercised merely for the purpose of using unobligated balances”—that is, just because a grantee has leftover funds does not entitle them to continue using them after the end of the grant project period. With the President’s recent declaration that the COVID-19 national emergency will end on May 11, 2023, the Department feels compelled to assiduously determine if HEERF grantees that request an extension beyond June 30, 2023 have a thought-out plan for using their remaining HEERF grant funds to address the lingering effects and impacts related to COVID-19. Additionally, as of this writing, the Department calculates that over 700 HEERF grantees still have at least $1,000,000 of HEERF grant funds to expend, making individual outreach to such grantees both impracticable and inefficient. The Department is requesting emergency clearance and OMB approval in order to streamline our review and approval process as well as ensure that the reasons for requesting an extension of the HEERF project period beyond June 30, 2023 meet the applicable legal requirements. As such, the Department has created a data collection form for HEERF grantees to provide the information required to request NCEs for up to an additional twelve months to spend their remaining HEERF grant balances. The form requests information that is required under 2 C.F.R. § 200.308(e)(2) and 34 C.F.R. § 75.261(a) to grant NCEs. The Department has attempted to reduce burden on grantees by requesting, prospectively, much of the same information that grantees report on in their HEERF annual performance reports. Providing a streamlined process for NCE requests will speed the process of reviewing and approving NCE requests and help ensure grantees are able to spend down their funds in a reasonable timeframe while focusing on the pressing needs of their students and institutions.

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Authorizing Statute(s): PL: Pub.L. 117 - 2 N/A Name of Law: American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
  

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

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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: 3

table that charts list of burden

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	N/A	HEERF No Cost Extension Request Form
Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	N/A	HEERF No Cost Extension Request Form
Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) No-Cost Extension Request Form	N/A	HEERF No Cost Extension Request Form

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ICR Summary of Burden

table that charts list of burden

	Total Approved	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	720	0	0	720	0	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	360	0	0	360	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 is a new collection. Therefore, all burden is new. This results in an increase in burden and responses of 360 hours and 720 responses respectively.

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Annual Cost to Federal Government:

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? No

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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: 04/21/2023

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