81 FR 8049 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; State and Local Implementation Grant Program Closeout Documentation

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 31 (February 17, 2016)

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 17, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8049-8050]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03139]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; State and Local 
Implementation Grant Program Closeout Documentation

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before April 18, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instruments and instructions 
should be sent to Michael Dame, Telecommunications Policy Specialist, 
Office of Public Safety Communications, National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 
Constitution Avenue NW., Room 4078, Washington, DC 20230 (or via email 
at [email protected]).

[[Page 8050]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Act, Pub. 
L. 112-96, 126 Stat. 156 (2012)) was signed by the President on 
February 22, 2012. The Act meets a long-standing priority of the 
Administration, as well as a critical national infrastructure need, to 
create a single, interoperable, nationwide public safety broadband 
network (NPSBN) that will, for the first time, allow police officers, 
fire fighters, emergency medical service professionals, and other 
public safety officials to effectively communicate with each other 
across agencies and jurisdictions. Public safety workers have long been 
hindered in their ability to respond in a crisis situation because of 
incompatible communications networks and often outdated communications 
equipment. The Act establishes the First Responder Network Authority 
(FirstNet) as an independent authority within NTIA and authorizes it to 
take all actions necessary to ensure the design, construction, and 
operation of the NPSBN, based on a single, national network 
architecture.
    FirstNet is responsible for, at a minimum, ensuring nationwide 
standards for the use of and access to the network; issuing open, 
transparent, and competitive requests for proposals (RFPs) to build, 
operate, and maintain the network; encouraging these RFPs to leverage, 
to the maximum extent economically desirable, existing commercial 
wireless infrastructure to speed deployment of the network; and 
overseeing contracts with non-federal entities to build, operate, and 
maintain the network.
    The Act also charges NTIA with establishing the State and Local 
Implementation Grant Program (SLIGP) to assist state, regional, tribal, 
and local jurisdictions with identifying, planning, and implementing 
the most efficient and effective means to use and integrate the 
infrastructure, equipment, and other architecture associated with the 
NPSBN to satisfy the wireless broadband and data services needs of 
their jurisdictions. The SLIGP program office awarded $116.5 million in 
grant funds to 54 active state and territorial recipients between July 
2013 and June 2014.
    Moreover, the Act's framework contemplates that FirstNet will 
coordinate its activities with state, regional, tribal, and local 
governments and imposes a statutory requirement that FirstNet consult 
with these entities as it takes all actions necessary to build, deploy, 
and operate the NPSBN. Specifically, the Act requires FirstNet to 
consult with state, regional, tribal, and local governments about the 
distribution and expenditure of any amounts required to carry out its 
responsibilities, including (i) The construction of a core network and 
any radio access network build-out; (ii) placement of towers; (iii) 
coverage areas of the network; (iv) adequacy of hardware, security, 
reliability, and resiliency requirements; (v) assignment of priority to 
local users and selection of entities seeking network access; and (vi) 
training needs of local users.
    Additionally, the Act specifies that these required consultations 
are to occur between FirstNet and the single point of contact that the 
state was required to designate in its application for grant funds 
under SLIGP or that the governor has since designated. Thus, progress 
in meeting FirstNet's responsibilities under the Act, including its 
required consultations, is inextricably linked to SLIGP. FirstNet must 
rely on NTIA to utilize SLIGP as the principal means to facilitate its 
required consultations. At the same time, without funding assistance 
from SLIGP, the states would lack the resources to consult effectively 
with FirstNet and provide it with information needed for it to proceed 
with the design and construction of a NPSBN in an effective and timely 
manner, as required by the Act.
    SLIGP recipients' periods of performance will end either on 
December 31, 2017, January 31, 2018, or February 28, 2018, depending on 
when the award was made. Following the award end date, grantees will be 
required to complete grant closeout activities within 90 days. The 
purpose of closeout is to capture a final account of grantee activities 
and how these activities contributed to overall program goals. To 
ensure effective grant oversight and management, SLIGP developed a 
closeout report form for recipients to complete as part of post-award 
monitoring and closeout activities at the end of the period of 
performance. The closeout form serves as a summary of grant-funded 
recipient activities over the entire award period and ensures that 
recipients comply with all necessary closeout procedures. The closeout 
form will ask recipients to aggregate their cumulative progress toward 
program priority areas identified in their quarterly performance 
progress reports (PPRs), namely stakeholders engaged, broadband 
conferences attended, staff hired, contracts executed, governance 
meetings held, outreach materials disseminated, and overall progress 
toward FirstNet-determined data collection activities. Recipients will 
also be asked to report on their cumulative expenditures throughout the 
period of performance in each object class category, including 
personnel, fringe, travel, equipment, materials/supplies, contractual, 
construction, other, and indirect costs.
    NTIA will use the collection of information to ensure that SLIGP 
grant recipients are effectively monitored and evaluated against the 
core purposes of the program established by the Act. The publication of 
this notice allows NTIA to begin the process to obtain the approval for 
the standard three years.

II. Method of Collection

    Paper format.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: None.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission; new collection.
    Affected Public: State, regional, local, and tribal government 
organizations.
    Frequency: Once (at the end of the period of performance).
    Number of Respondents: 54.
    Average Time per Response: Final closeout report, 25 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,350 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $52,623.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they will also become a matter of public record.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental PRA Lead, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-03139 Filed 2-16-16; 8:45 am]
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