84 FR 20110 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Impact Aid Program-Application for Section 7003 Assistance

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is proposing a revision of an existing information collection.

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20110-20111]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09456]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No. ED-2019-ICCD-0059]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Impact 
Aid Program--Application for Section 7003 Assistance

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), Department 
of Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is 
proposing a revision of an existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
July 8, 2019.

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the documents related to the 
information collection listed in this notice, please use http://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2019-ICCD-
0059. Comments submitted in response to this notice should be

[[Page 20111]]

submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number or via 
postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. If the 
regulations.gov site is not available to the public for any reason, ED 
will temporarily accept comments at [email protected]. Please include 
the docket ID number and the title of the information collection 
request when requesting documents or submitting comments. Please note 
that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the 
comment period will not be accepted. Written requests for information 
or comments submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to 
the Director of the Information Collection Clearance Division, U.S. 
Department of Education, 550 12th Street SW, PCP, Room 9086, 
Washington, DC 20202-0023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Amanda Ognibene, 202-453-6637.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Education (ED), in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with 
an opportunity to comment on proposed, revised, and continuing 
collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact 
of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's 
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in 
the desired format. ED is soliciting comments on the proposed 
information collection request (ICR) that is described below. The 
Department of Education is especially interested in public comment 
addressing the following issues: (1) Is this collection necessary to 
the proper functions of the Department; (2) will this information be 
processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden 
accurate; (4) how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how might the 
Department minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, 
including through the use of information technology. Please note that 
written comments received in response to this notice will be considered 
public records.
    Title of Collection: Impact Aid Program--Application for Section 
7003 Assistance.
    OMB Control Number: 1810-0687.
    Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 301,079.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 87,656.
    Abstract: The U.S. Department of Education is requesting approval 
for the Application for Assistance under Section 7003 of Title VIII of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the 
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This application is for a grant 
program otherwise known as Impact Aid Basic Support Payments. Local 
Educational Agencies (LEAs) whose enrollments and revenues are 
adversely impacted by Federal activities use this form to request 
financial assistance. Regulations for the Impact Aid Program are found 
at 34 CFR 222.
    The statute and regulations for this program require a variety of 
data from applicants annually to determine eligibility for the grants 
and the amount of grant payment under the statutory formula. The least 
burdensome method of collecting this required information is for each 
applicant to submit these data through a web-based electronic 
application hosted on the Impact Aid Grant System (IAGS) website.
    The Impact Aid Program, authorized by Title VII of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), provides financial assistance to 
local educational agencies (LEAs) whose enrollment or revenues are 
adversely affected by Federal activities.
    The statute and implementing regulations (34 CFR part 222) require 
information from applicants annually to determine eligibility for and 
the amount of payments. The least burdensome method of collecting this 
required information is for each applicant to submit it as part of its 
annual Impact Aid application, previously approved under OMB 1810-0687.
    ED is now requesting to revise this collection. Previously, 
applicants submitted applications through ED's G5 website. Now, the 
Impact Aid Program is developing its own online grants management 
system to better serve the local educational agencies who receive 
Impact Aid funds. Grantees will now be able to submit the annual 
application through the Impact Aid Grant System. The program has 
revised the application to be more user-friendly and reduce burden. The 
data collected on the application is largely the same. All changes are 
summarized below.
     The program regulations at 34 CFR 222.33 require that LEAs 
survey their Federally connected children ``no earlier than the fourth 
day of the regular school year.'' In order to monitor this, we will 
have each applicant enter the first day of school for students.
     We now require first-time Charter School LEA applicants to 
submit their charter and their annual financial report at the time of 
application. The program has always required new charter school 
applicants to submit this information in order to verify that the 
school is financially independent and able to apply on its own behalf 
as an LEA, per the statutory definition in 20 U.S.C. 7713; however, 
they were requested after the charter school submitted the application. 
We are now asking for these documents with the application to speed the 
review process.
     Another change requires applicants to affirm they have 
enough children to qualify for categories F and G before being allowed 
to enter child counts in those categories. This is intended to save 
them effort in data entry. This does not require any additional 
submissions with the data collection.
     We no longer require the Housing Official Certification 
form. We ask only for the Housing Official's contact information so 
that we may obtain data required to calculate housing renovation claims 
directly from the official.
     We have eliminated the requirement to upload a signed 
cover page and assurances page, and will permit applicants to sign the 
required attestations and certifications electronically.

    Dated: May 3, 2019.
Kate Mullan,
PRA Coordinator, Information Collection Clearance Program, Information 
Management Branch, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019-09456 Filed 5-7-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P