2013-01622. Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Public Comment Request

AGENCY:

Electronic Government Office; Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Electronic Government Office (EGOV), Department of Health and Human Services, announces plans to submit an Information Collection Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The ICR is for extending the use of the approved information collection assigned OMB control number 4040-0001, which expires on March 31, 2013. The ICR also requests categorizing the form as a common form, meaning HHS will only request approval for its own use of the form rather than aggregating the burden estimate across all Federal Agencies as was done for previous actions on this OMB control number. Prior to submitting that ICR to OMB, EGOV seeks comments from the public regarding the burden estimate, below, or any other aspect of the ICR.

DATES:

Comments on the ICR must be received on or before March 29, 2013.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments to [e-mail] or by calling [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Information Collection Clearance staff, [e-mail] or [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

When submitting comments or requesting information, please include the document identifier HHS-EGOV-18380-60D for reference.

Information Collection Request Title: SF-424 Research & Related (R&R).

OMB No.: 4040-0001.

Abstract: The SF-424 Research & Related Information Collection is an information collection comprised of a set of standardized forms used for grant applications to research-based agencies.

Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The SF-424 R&R is used by the public to apply for Federal financial assistance in the forms of grants. These forms are submitted to the Federal grant-making research-based agencies for evaluation and review.

Likely Respondents: Organizations and institutions seeking research-based grants.

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.

HHS estimates that the SF-424 Research and Related form will take 1 hour to complete. We expect that 128,378 respondents will use this form.

Once OMB approves the use of this common form, federal agencies may request OMB approval to use this common form without having to publish notices and request public comments for 60 and 30 days. Each agency must account for the burden associated with their use of the common form.

Total Estimated Annualized Burden—Hours

Form name	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Average burden per response (in hours)	Total burden hours
SF-424 Research and Related Application for Federal Assistance	128,378	1	1	128,378
Total	128,378	1	1	128,378

EGOV specifically requests comments on (1) the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency's functions, (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden, (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and (4) the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

Keith A. Tucker,

Information Collection Clearance Officer.