2019-24715. Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Standardized Work Plan (SWP) Form for Use With Applications to the Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) Research and Training Grants ...

AGENCY:

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA has submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted during the first public review of this ICR have been provided to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public during the review and approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 30-day comment period for this Notice has closed.

DATES:

Comments on this ICR should be received no later than December 16, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, including the ICR Title, to the desk officer for HRSA, either by email to [e-mail] or by fax to [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request a copy of the clearance requests submitted to OMB for review, email Lisa Wright-Solomon, the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at [e-mail] or call [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Information Collection Request Title: SWP Form for Use with Applications to BHW Research and Training Grants and Cooperative Agreements, OMB No. 0906-xxxx-NEW

Abstract: BHW requires applicants for training and research grants and cooperative agreements to submit a work plan that describes the timeframes and deliverables required during the grant period of performance to address each of the needs detailed in the Purpose and Need section of the application, as required in the Notice of Funding Opportunity announcement. Applicants are currently able to submit work plans in a non-standardized format.

In order to standardize the data provided by applicants to make informed decisions about funding and assist with monitoring awardee progress, BHW plans to require applicants to complete a SWP form in lieu of submitting a work plan in the applicant's own format. Applicants will use the SWP form when they submit their proposals, and grantees and Project Officers will use the SWP information to assist in monitoring progress once HRSA makes the awards.

A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register on June 19, 2019, Vol. 84, No. 118, pp.28560-28561. There was one public comment and it was thoroughly addressed.

Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The information collected by the SWP form is necessary to standardize and streamline the data used by HRSA in reviewing applications and monitoring awardees. The form will ask applicants to provide a description of the activities or steps the recipient will take to achieve each of the objectives proposed during the entire period of performance. The current variation in formats and data submitted by applicants reduces efficiency in reviewing, awarding, and monitoring each project, so this change will remedy that inefficiency. In addition, seeking OMB approval comports with the regulatory requirement imposed by 45 CFR 75.206(a), Paperwork clearances.

The proposed SWP form will be used to provide information to assess applications for awards including ranking applications as part of the grant review process. BHW will also use the information to assess whether current recipients of grant funding have met statutory and programmatic requirements.

Likely Respondents: Respondents will be applicants to HRSA's research and training programs in BHW.

Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide the information requested. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for this ICR are summarized in the table below.

Total Estimated Annualized Burden—Hours

Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Total responses	Average burden per response (in hours)	Total burden hours
Standardized Work Plan	1,000	1	1,000	1	1,000
	1,000		1,000		1,000

Maria G. Button,

Director, Executive Secretariat.