SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Description: Hurricanes Fiona and Ian occurred in September 2022, and were declared by the President as major disasters under section 401 or 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 and 5191). Hurricane Fiona impacted the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Hurricane Ian impacted the states of Florida and South Carolina.

Through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Pub. L. 117-328), signed into law by Congress on December 29, 2022, OCS received an additional $25 million to support the necessary expenses directly related to the consequences of Hurricanes Fiona and Ian. OCS allocated the funds to grant recipients based on assessment of need. Grant recipients then issued grants to CSBG eligible entities to support disaster recovery activities for individuals and families with low incomes. Consistent with the general purposes of CSBG and the specific appropriation guidance, this funding supported a range of locally identified services and strategies focused on the needs of people with low-income and disaster-related needs. These funds supported ongoing community recovery after the conclusion of emergency response efforts.

Section 678E of the CSBG Act requires states, including the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and U.S. territories, to annually prepare and submit a report on the measured performance of the state and the eligible entities in the state. Prior to the participation of the state in the performance measurement system, the state shall include in the report any information collected by the state relating to such performance. Each state shall also include in the report an accounting of the expenditure of funds received by the state through the CSBG program, including an accounting of funds spent on administrative costs by the state and the eligible entities, and funds spent by the eligible entities on the direct delivery of local services, and shall include information on the number of and characteristics of clients served under the subtitle in the state, based on data collected from the eligible entities. The state shall also include in the report a summary describing the training and technical assistance offered by the state.

Section 3(b) of the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 requires OCS, as an office under HHS, to collect performance information for CSBG. The CSBG Disaster Supplemental Annual Report was previously approved under OMB #: 0970-0492, along with the CSBG Annual Report. Due to a unique funding stream, OCS is requesting approval of the CSBG Disaster Supplemental Annual Report under a unique OMB number. The proposed CSBG Disaster Supplemental Annual Report is directly modeled on the CSBG Annual Report and includes 3 modules, tailored to disaster funding:

• State Administration (Module 1) completed by state CSBG Administrators: Focuses on state administration of CSBG funding, including distribution of funds to eligible entities, use of state administrative funds and discretionary funds for training and technical assistance, eligible entity organizational standards progress, and the state's progress meeting accountability measures related to state monitoring, training and technical assistance, and other critical areas.
• Eligible Entity Administration (Module 2) completed by eligible entities; reviewed, evaluated, and analyzed by state CSBG Lead Agencies: includes information on funds spent by eligible entities on the direct delivery of local services and strategies and capacity development as well as information on funding devoted to administrative costs by the eligible entities.
• Individual and Family Level (Module 3) completed by eligible entities; reviewed, evaluated; analyzed by state CSBG Lead Agencies: Includes ( printed page 27353) information on services provided to individuals and families, demographic characteristics of people served by eligible entities, and the results of these services.

Respondents: State governments, including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and CSBG eligible entities.

Annual Burden Estimates

Grant recipients (2) and sub-grant recipients (31) will complete the CSBG Disaster Supplemental Annual Report annually. OCS estimates the average time to complete this request to be approximately 110 hours per state each year and 235 hours per eligible entity each year. Grant recipients only complete Module 1 while sub-grant recipients only complete Modules 2 and 3.

Comments: The Department specifically requests comments 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 of the proposed collection of information; (c) 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. Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted within 60 days of this publication.

Authority: 112 Stat. 2729; 42 U.S.C. 9908, 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.

91 FR 27352