02-1588. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

AGENCY:

Department of Education.

SUMMARY:

The Leader, Regulatory Information Management Group, Office of the Chief Information Officer invites comments on the submission for OMB review as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before February 22, 2002.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments should be addressed to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Lauren Wittenberg, Desk Officer, Department of Education, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW., Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503 or should be electronically mailed to the Internet address [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35) requires that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provide interested Federal agencies and the public an early opportunity to comment on information collection requests. OMB may amend or waive the requirement for public consultation to the extent that public participation in the approval process would defeat the purpose of the information collection, violate State or Federal law, or substantially interfere with any agency's ability to perform its statutory obligations. The Leader, Regulatory Information Management Group, Office of the Chief Information Officer, publishes that notice containing proposed information collection requests prior to submission of these requests to OMB. Each proposed information collection, grouped by office, contains the following: (1) Type of review requested, e.g. new, revision, extension, existing or reinstatement; (2) Title; (3) Summary of the collection; (4) Description of the need for, and proposed use of, the information; (5) Respondents and frequency of collection; and (6) Reporting and/or Recordkeeping burden. OMB invites public comment.

Dated: January 16, 2002.

John Tressler,

Leader, Regulatory Information Management, Office of the Chief Information Officer.

Student Financial Assistance

Type of Review: New.

Title: Performance Report for the Leveraging Educational Assistance Program (LEAP) and Special Leveraging Educational Assistance Program (SLEAP) Program.

Frequency: Annually.

Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal Gov't, SEAs or LEAs.

Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour Burden:

 Responses: 56.

 Burden Hours: 560.

Abstract: The LEAP and SLEAP programs use matching Federal and State Funds to provide a nationwide system of grants to assist postsecondary educational students with substantial financial need. On this performance report the states provide information the Department requires about the state's use of program funds in order to demonstrate compliance with the program's statutory and regulatory requirements. Federal program officials use the performance report data for monitoring program funds distribution. With the clearance of this collection, the Department is seeking to automate the performance reporting process for both the LEAP Program and the subprogram, SLEAP. There are no significant changes to the current LEAP form data elements; there are, however, additional items pertaining to the SLEAP program.

Requests for copies of the proposed information collection request may be accessed from http://edicsweb.ed.gov,, or should be addressed to Vivian Reese, Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 4050, Regional Office Building 3, Washington, DC 20202-4651 or to the e-mail address [e-mail]. Requests may also be electronically mailed to the Internet address [e-mail] or faxed to 202-708-9346. Please specify the complete title of the information collection when making your request.

Comments regarding burden and/or the collection activity requirements should be directed to Joseph Schubart at [phone] or via his Internet address [e-mail]. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.