2023-03356. Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Education Contracts Under the Johnson-O'Malley Act

AGENCY:

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of Information Collection; request for comment.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) are proposing to renew an information collection with revisions.

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before March 20, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection request (ICR) should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) through https://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRA/​icrPublicCommentRequest?​ref_​nbr=​202302-1076-003 or by visiting https://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain and selecting “Currently under Review—Open for Public Comments” and then scrolling down to the “Department of the Interior.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request additional information about this ICR, contact Steven Mullen, Information Collection Clearance Officer, Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action—Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1001 Indian School Road NW, Suite 229, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104; [e-mail]; [phone]. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. You may also view the ICR at https://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAOMBHistory?​ombControlNumber=​1076-0193.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), we provide the general public and other Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand our information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.

A Federal Register notice with a 60-day public comment period soliciting comments on this collection of information was published on July 22, 2022 (87 FR 43889). No comments were received.

As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burdens, we are again soliciting comments from the public and other Federal agencies on the proposed ICR that is described below. We are especially interested in public comment addressing the following:

(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether or not the information will have practical utility;

(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) How might the agency minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of response.

Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of public record. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Abstract: The regulations at 25 CFR 273, Subpart E, implement in section 7(c) Contracting Party Student Count Reporting Compliance, of the Johnson-O'Malley Supplemental Indian Education Program Modernization Act (JOM Modernization Act). These regulations require the BIE to implement an annual reporting requirement for existing JOM contractors to report a student count served by each contracting party, and an accounting of the amounts and purposes for which the contract funds were expended. The information received from the annual reporting requirements of the contractor will allow the Secretary to provide an annual report, including the most recent determination of the number of eligible Indian students served by each contracting party, recommendation on appropriate funding levels, and an assessment of the contracts receiving JOM contracts, to the appropriate Committee and Subcommittees in the Senate and of the House of Representatives.

Proposed Revisions

BIA proposes to revise the information collection to incorporate changes in program frequency; as well as efficiency gains through reducing redundancy. BIA proposes to revise the Estimated Annual Time Burden from 11,450 to 11,400 hours; and Estimated Annual Number of Responses from 1,197 to 1,084.

Title of Collection: Education Contracts under the Johnson-O'Malley Act.

OMB Control Number: 1076-0193.

Form Number: None.

Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Respondents/Affected Public: Tribal organizations, States, public school districts, Indian corporations.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 1,084.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 1,084.

Estimated Completion Time per Response: Ranges from 1 to 80 hours.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 11,400.

Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain a benefit.

Frequency of Collection: Annually.

Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: $0.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Steven Mullen,

Information Collection Clearance Officer, Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action—Indian Affairs.