[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 212 (Tuesday, November 3, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59327-59328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29313]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Information Collection Submission to OMB for Reinstatement Under
Paperwork Reduction Act
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, as
amended (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that an
information collection request, OMB Control Number 1076-0135, ``Public
Law 102-477 Reporting,'' was submitted to the Office of Management and
Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review
and reinstatement under 5 CFR 1320.10. The first notice requesting
comments about the collection was published in the Federal Register on
February 24, 1998 (63 FR 9240-9241).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before December 3, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for Department of
the Interior, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW,
Washington, D.C. 20503. A copy should be sent to Lynn Forcia, Office of
Economic Development, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street, NW, Mail
Stop 4640-MIB, Washington, D.C. 20240. OMB is required to make a
decision concerning this information collection request between 30 and
60 days after publication of this document in the Federal Register.
Therefore, a comment will receive the best consideration by OMB if it
is submitted early during this comment period.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
additional copies of the information collection instructions and the
February 22, 1998 Federal Register should be directed to Lynn Forcia,
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street,
NW, MS 4640-MIB, Washington, D.C. 20240 and Telephone: 202-219-5270.
(This is not a toll-free number.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: A Reporting System for the P.L. 102-477 Demonstration
Project, expired on March 31, 1998. This is a request for reinstatement
of a slightly modified previously approved information collection
request.
I. Abstract: The information collection is needed to document
satisfactory compliance with statutory requirements of the various
integrated programs. Public Law 102-477 authorizes tribal governments
to integrate federally-funded employment, training and related services
programs into a single, coordinated, comprehensive service delivery
plan. Funding agencies include the Department of the Interior,
Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is statutorily required to serve as the
lead agency. Section 11 of this Act requires that the Secretary of the
Interior make available a single universal report format which shall be
used by a tribal government to report on integrated activities and
expenditures undertaken. The Bureau of Indian Affairs shares the
information collected from these reports with the Department of Labor
and Department of Health and Human Services.
II. Method of Collection: Tribal governments voluntarily
participating in Public Law 102-477 are required to annually complete
two single page, one-sided report forms and one narrative report, which
includes four pages of instructions. They replace 166 pages of
instructions and applications representing three different agencies and
twelve different funded but related programs. We estimate a 95 percent
reduction in reporting which is consistent with the Paperwork Reduction
Act and goals of the National Performance Review. The statistical and
narrative report will be used to demonstrate how well a plan was
executed in comparison to proposed goals. The financial status report
will be used to track cash flow, and will allow an analysis of
activities versus expenditures and expenditures to approved budget. It
is a slightly modified SF-269-A (short form).
These report forms and narrative are limited but satisfy the
Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor and the
Department of the Interior. They reduce the burden on tribal
governments by consolidating data collection for employment, training,
education, child care and related service programs. The forms were
developed by a partnership of tribes and representatives of all three
Federal agencies, to standardize terms and definitions, eliminate
duplication and reduce frequency of collection.
[[Page 59328]]
Respondents: Tribes participating in Public Law 102-477 will report
annually. Currently, there are 22 grantees participating in the
program.
Burden: We estimate that completion of the reporting requirements
will require 10 hours per year to complete for each grantee, times 22
grants equals 220 burden hours.
Public Comments and Responses
All comments were considered in preparing BIA's response.
The desk officer for Department of Labor at OMB verbally
recommended that we add the following questions to the reporting forms
in order to provide three additional items of information for the
Department of Labor's new Welfare to Work program. Add to the Program
Statistical report form:
1. ``Welfare to work recipients entered unsubsidized employment.''
2. ``Placements with duration of 180 days or more.''
Add to the Narrative portion of the report, one sentence:
3. ``The narrative should show the extent of participants in any
Welfare to Work activities, e.g., the number of participants and what
activities were included.''
The P.L. 102-477 Tribal Work Group formed a subcommittee to review
all P.L. 102-477 report forms including the OMB requested additions.
The subcommittee included representatives from the Central Council of
Tlingit and Haida Indians, Kodiak Area Native Association, the Shoshone
Bannock Tribes, the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, the Sisseton-Wahpeton
Sioux Tribe and the Indian and Native American Employment and Training
Coalition. The subcommittee responded to the recommendations from the
Office of Management and Budget as follows. To the Program Statistical
report form:
1. In the program consolidation authorized under P.L. 102-477,
grantees no longer identify participants in each activity separately
because the funding sources are not identified for each participant.
Therefore, the subcommittee recommendation was added: ``Long-term TANF
recipients entered unsubsidized employment.''
2. The subcommittee stated that tracking participants for 180 days
is very costly in terms of additional time and expense that could
otherwise be spent toward finding unsubsidized employment for
individuals. Therefore, the subcommittee recommended that grantees
track clients for 90 days instead of 180 days. Tracking participants
for 90 days would also be consistent with existing Department of Labor,
JTPA requirements and participant eligibility for services. Therefore,
we have decided to add the following question to the form: ``Placements
with duration of 90 days or more.''
3. The subcommittee agreed with the Office of Management and Budget
that it was appropriate to add one sentence to the narrative
instruction, and is as follows: ``The narrative should show the extent
of participation in any welfare to work activities, e.g., the number of
participants and the services such as job readiness, supportive
services, and any post employment services provided to place long-term
welfare recipients into employment and the success of such services.''
The Bureau of Indian Affairs also received comments from five P.L.
102-477 grantees and one other interested party, stating that the
existing format has allowed tribes to spend more time providing
services to clients and less time completing report forms. Grantees
stated that initiation of a P.L. 102-477 program resulted in the
integration of several programs and resulted in the elimination of
distinction between related tribal employment and training participants
based on the source of funds for the services. The grantees stated they
wanted no additional information collection elements and requested a
face-to-face meeting with OMB prior to making any changes to the
existing forms. We did not receive any written comments from any of the
other participating Federal agencies. We have incorporated the
additions recommended by the P.L. 102-477 subcommittee because we
believe the additional information is necessary to provide the
Department of Labor and the Office of Management and Budget with the
information necessary to adequately manage and evaluate the Welfare to
Work program. The collection of the additional information is the
minimum amount of information needed to accomplish this goal and to
limit information collection and reporting requirements for grantee
tribes, many with limited resources.
Dated: October 23, 1998.
Kevin Gover,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 98-29313 Filed 11-2-98; 8:45 am]
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