0524-0048 REEport Supp Stmnt A 2024 3.8.24

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Research, Education, and Extension project online reporting tool (REEport)

OMB No. 0524-0048

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. CIRCUMSTANCES MAKING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION NECESSARY

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) NIFA is seeking a revision of a current OMB approval to continue to use the following information collection activities for an additional 3 years.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) administers several competitive, peer-reviewed research, education, and extension grant programs. These competitive grant programs are authorized pursuant to the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, as amended (7 U.S.C. 3101); Section 2(b) of the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act (hereafter referred to as the Act) (7 U.S.C. 3157), as amended; and other legislative authorities.

NIFA has two primary reporting systems that it uses to ensure compliance with regulatory reporting requirements for both capacity and competitive grant programs. Each reporting system is treated as a separate information collection. Since 2013, NIFA has been using the Research, Education, and Extension project online reporting tool (REEport) to document programmatic, technical, and financial content for ongoing research, education, and extension activities in agriculture, food science, human nutrition, and forestry to meet the relevant regulatory reporting requirements for competitive grant programs.

The modules included in the REEport system are necessary so that NIFA can ensure compliance with legislative and regulatory reporting requirements that relate to competitive publicly supported research, education, and extension projects.

Please note that NIFA also utilizes the NIFA Reporting System (NRS), a separate information collection (0524-0036), and since 2021 has been in the process of transitioning program reporting for capacity programs from REEport into NRS. The transition is ongoing and requested revisions to the 0524-0036 collection are currently under OMB review.

2. HOW, BY WHOM, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH INFORMATION IS TO BE USED

NIFA utilizes the REEport system to collect information from both federal and non-federal entities that receive competitive grant program funding from NIFA. Respondents include USDA agencies, State Agricultural Experiment Stations, the state land-grant colleges and universities (1862, 1890, and 1994), state schools of forestry, cooperating schools of veterinary medicine, USDA grant recipients, and other cooperating institutions.

Respondents submit information electronically using the NIFA Reporting Portal. Respondents can also access instruction manuals for preparing REEport forms are online via the REEport web page. Further assistance on program reporting and resolving technical issues can be obtained by contacting the REEport staff directly at [email protected].

The REEport information collection process is critical in enabling NIFA to assess the effectiveness and impact of its research, education, and extension programs. NIFA uses the information in the collection to keep internal and external stakeholders abreast of the latest developments in agricultural, food science, human nutrition and forestry research and education; track resource utilization in specific target areas and plan for future activities; plan for resource allocation to research and education programs; avoid costly duplication of effort; aid in coordination of research and education efforts addressing similar problems in different locations; and aid researchers and project directors in establishing valuable contacts within the agricultural community.

Project descriptions collected via REEport are available to the general public as well as all REEport respondents. Financial information is also available on individual projects and cooperative agreements through NIFA’s Data Gateway.

Project Initiation/Project Change. All universities and colleges that receive competitive grant funding from NIFA complete the Project/Program Initiation module each time the institution uses those funds to perform work and activities not already covered by a previous entry. This module is part of the current REEport information collection and allows institutions to enter information that will provide foundational information regarding the project such as: project participants; project goals; products/outputs achieved as a result of the project; expected project outcomes; methods used during the project; a summary; keywords; and percentage of types of activities performed during the project. No revisions are being made to this module. Respondents use the Project Change module, to update the data they submitted to NIFA when they originally completed the Project Initiation form. No additional data is collected in the Project Change module and no revisions are being made to this module.

Progress Report and Final Report. Both forms include data items approved for use in the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR). The items provide information about participants, progress, accomplishments, and impacts of the project’s activities as well as publications, publication citations, and patent information relating to the project. Respondents must complete a Progress Report is required for each project, on an annual basis to report on progress of the previous 12-month period. The Final Report is required within 120 days following the termination of a project and reflects the progress over the entire life of the project. For both of these forms, the revisions being submitted for approval in this supporting statement include adding separate digital persistent identifier fields for NIFA funded scholarly publications, digital scientific research data, and the authors of those products, and a certification statement to confirm compliance with USDA Department Regulation DR 1020-006.

Financial Report/Final Financial Report. All universities and colleges that receive competitive funding are required to complete the Financial Report module. The Financial Report requires respondents to detail all expenditures by funding source and is reported on a fiscal year basis. No revisions are being made to this module. The Final Financial Report module is identical to the Financial Report module and collects the same information, but at time of project completion. No revisions are being made to this module.

3. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

NIFA makes every effort to comply with the E-Government Act, 2002 (E-Gov) and to provide for alternative submission of information collections.

This information collection permits electronic submission of responses. By using a web-based interface known as the REEport application, respondents can enter information and submit that information to NIFA electronically at the REEport portal. To reduce burden, the technology prepopulates data that is already available from the grant application and award process in REEport. Moreover, the technology prepopulates data from the project initiation process in the Progress/Final Report. NIFA anticipates 100 percent of responses will be submitted electronically.

4. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION

No duplication is involved. There is no similar information available which can be used or modified to meet the information needs of this program. Fields were included in REEport only if they were required by law or regulation or fulfilled an informational need by NIFA or its partners.

5. METHODS TO MINIMIZE BUDGET OF SMALL BUSINESSES OR ENTITIES

Respondents include approximately 130 small businesses (Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant recipients). To help minimize burden, these grantees are only required to submit Project Initiation and Progress Report data to fulfill legislative and regulatory reporting requirements.

6. CONSEQUENCE IF INFORMATION COLLECTION WERE LESS FREQUENT

This is an ongoing, mandatory information collection request. The information obtained through the collection process for REEport furnishes unique data that is not available from any other source. Interruption in the collection process, or failure to collect this information, would severely compromise NIFA’s ability to provide program leadership to identify, develop, and manage programs to support university-based and other institutional research and extension. Information in the collection is critical to other NIFA programs in meeting their mandated obligations and responsibilities. Additionally, the information collected by REEport and stored in Data Gateway databases is utilized by state institutions in administering their individual research programs and in their planning processes for the allocation of resources in critical research areas. The information gap created by a failure to collect REEport information would have serious negative impacts on the administration and management of agricultural research, extension, and education on a national level. REEport is an electronic system providing the capability of storing and retrieving program information on USDA-supported research, education, and extension activities. Failure to provide the system to the participating agencies and institutions would result in a significant increase in the burden on those organizations to meet their information requirements and accomplish program management.

7. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES FOR INFORMATION COLLECTION

There are no special circumstances. The collection of information is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

8. FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE

The notice of this currently approved information collection appeared in the Federal Register on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, Vol. 88, No. 152 (88 FR 53860). NIFA received one comment. NIFA has reviewed the comment and has taken the commenter input into consideration. No specific changes to the collection were made in response to the comment.

CONSULTATIONS WITH PERSONS OUTSIDE THE AGENCY

NIFA sought consultation outside the agency from a geographically diverse selection from the pool of REEport users, including both independent institutions and land-grant universities. Responses were received from the following individuals:

Sheila Glesmann, P.E., Managing Consultant

Emission Strategies, Inc.

Email: [email protected]

Dr. Corey Lang, Professor and Graduate Program Director

University of Rhode Island

Email: [email protected]

Dr. Jane Lucas, Assistant Scientist

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Inc.

Email: [email protected]

Dr. Ying Jin, Associate Professor

Middle Tennessee State University

Email: [email protected]

Jeri Zimmerman, Director, CAFNR Grants Office

University of Missouri

Email: [email protected]

Asheley Greenlee, CA&ES Dean’s Office

University of California – Davis

Email: [email protected]

Stakeholders provided information related to time needed to complete the collection and suggestions to improve instructions and formatting. In response to user feedback, NIFA revised the REEport User Guide and updated onscreen help text fields to improve clarity of instructions.

9. DECISION TO PROVIDE ANY PAYMENT OR GIFT TO RESPONDENTS, OTHER THAN REMUNERATION OF CONTRACTORS OR GRANTEES

The agency does not provide payment or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

10. CONFIDENTIALITY PROVIDED TO RESPONDENTS

No privacy and/or confidentiality issues are anticipated with this information collection. All personally identifiable information (PII) is kept confidential.

11. QUESTIONS OF A SENSITIVE NATURE

No sensitive information or potentially sensitive information is being collected.

12. ESTIMATE OF BURDEN

The estimated burden hours for each REEport form listed below is based on a sample survey of REEport respondents. The estimates are summarized in Tables 1 and 2 below.

REEport – Data Collection Hour Burden Estimates
Table 1

Form Description	Estimated Number of Respondents	Estimated Number of Responses Per Respondent	Estimated Total Annual Responses	Estimated Hours/ Response	Estimated Annual Burden Hrs.
Project Initiation	650	3	1,950	1.7	3,315
Progress Report	740	10	7,400	3.2	23,680
Financial Report	650	10	6,500	3.4	22,100
Final Report	740	3	2,220	6	13,320
Total	740		18,070		62,415

*To avoid double counting respondents, the estimated number of respondents is 740 which includes 650 Aid Researchers and 90 Directors.

REEport - Annualized Respondent Cost based on Data Collection Hour Burden Estimates

Table 2

Form Description	Avg. Hourly Wage*	Avg. Hours/ Response	Total	Total Responses/Year	Annual Cost Burden
Project Initiation	$50.92	1.7	$86.56	1,950	$168,800
Progress Report	$50.92	3.2	$162.94	7,400	$1,205,756
Financial Report	$34.11	3.4	$115.97	6,500	$753,831
Final Report	$50.92	6	$305.52	2,220	$678,254
Total					$2,806,641

*Hourly labor rate for the Project Initiation, Progress Report, and Final Report are derived from BLS.gov Postsecondary Teacher 2022 Median Pay. Hourly labor rate for the Financial Report is derived from BLS.gov Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks 2022 Median Pay. These estimates account for the cost of fringe benefits for the respondents.

13. CAPITAL/STARTUP COSTS

There are no capital or startup costs.

14. ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The annualized cost of the NIFA support staff is detailed in Table 3. The approximate annualized cost of the support staff hours is $54,311. In addition to these costs, the information collected in the REEport system is reviewed by NIFA staff after respondents submit the report forms in the system. Table 4 details the estimated annualized cost of these report form reviews, which equals $991,782 annually.

The total estimated annualized cost to the federal government is $1,046,093.

REEport – Annualized Cost to the Federal Government for Support Staff

Table 3

Support Staff Role	Average Staff GS Level	Hours/Year	Avg. Hourly Wage*	Total Yearly Cost
IT Specialist	GS 13	52	$57.04	$2,966
Program Analyst	GS 12	1,040	$49.37	$51,345
Total				$54,311

*Avg. Hourly Wage derived from 2024 Federal Pay Tables for Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS assuming a step 5 annual salary for the GS level listed. The GS 13/5 represents the average IT Specialist GS level and the GS 12/5 represents the average Program Analyst GS Level.

REEport – Annualized Cost to the Federal Government for Report Form Reviews

Table 4

Form Description	Total Annual Responses	Average Staff GS Level	Avg. Review Hours/Form	Avg. Total Hours Spent Reviewing Form	Avg. Hourly Wage*	Total Yearly Cost
Project Initiation	1,950	GS 14	1	1,950	$67.40	$131,430
Progress Report	7,400	GS 14	1	7,400	$67.40	$498,760
Financial Report	6,500	GS 11	0.25	1,625	$40.02	$65,032
Final Report	2,220	GS 14	2	4,400	$67.40	$296,560
Total						$991,782

*Avg. Hourly Wage derived from 2024 Federal Pay Tables for Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS assuming each a step 5 annual salary for each GS level listed. The GS 14/5 represents the average National Program Leader GS level and the GS 11/5 represents the average Grants Management Specialist GS level.

15. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

This information collection is a regular submission of a revision of a currently approved collection. The total burden for this collection decreased by 10,485 hours (from 72,900 hours to 62,415 hours). This decrease reflects a drop in the number of respondents using REEport since NIFA now collects most information about capacity grants in the NIFA Reporting System (NRS).

16. TABULATION, ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION PLANS

Information in the REEport data collection is organized in a searchable database of elements supported through the Project Initiation, Progress/Final Report, and Financial Report input processes. The primary database is available on the Internet and can be accessed by the public. Various options and formats are available for selection and output from the public website, Data Gateway, as described in section two above. Financial Report data is also available for public consumption for each new fiscal year collected. The financial data is available through the Data Gateway website for access by the public. The Planning, Accountability, and Reporting Staff at NIFA can also provide other types of summaries, standard reports, and custom reports of more detailed levels of REEport information by special request.

17. SEEKING APPROVAL TO NOT DISPLAY OMB APPROVAL ON FORMS

The Agency is not seeking approval to not display the expiration date of OMB approval of the information collection.

18. EXCEPTION(S) TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT (19) ON OMB 83-1

None.

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