2014-12400. Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Annual Progress Reporting Form for the American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) Program

AGENCY:

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Department of Education (ED).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing a revision of an existing information collection.

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before July 28, 2014.

ADDRESSES:

Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov by selecting Docket ID number ED-2014-ICCD-0078 or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. If the regulations.gov site is not available to the public for any reason, ED will temporarily accept comments at [e-mail]. Please note that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the comment period will not be accepted; ED will ONLY accept comments during the comment period in this mailbox when the regulations.gov site is not available. Written requests for information or comments submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the Director of the Information Collection Clearance Division, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, Mailstop L-OM-2-2E319, Room 2E115, Washington, DC 20202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For specific questions related to collection activities, please contact Alfreda Reeves, 202-245-7485.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Department of Education (ED), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. ED is soliciting comments on the proposed information collection request (ICR) that is described below. The Department of Education is especially interested in public comment addressing the following issues: (1) Is this collection necessary to the proper functions of the Department; (2) will this information be processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how might the Department minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, including through the use of information technology. Please note that written comments received in response to this notice will be considered public records.

Title of Collection: Annual Progress Reporting Form for the American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) Program.

OMB Control Number: 1820-0655.

Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.

Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local, or Tribal Governments.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 85.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 1,063.

Abstract: The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will use this data collection form to capture the annual performance report data from grantees funded under the American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) program. RSA and ED will use the information gathered annually to: (a) Comply with reporting requirements under Section 75.118 of the Education Department General Administration Regulations (EDGAR), (b) provide annual information to Congress on activities conducted under the program, (c) measure performance on the program in accordance with the program indicators identified in the Government Performance Result Act (GPRA), and (d) collect information that is consistent with the common measures for federal job training programs.

The proposed changes to the existing form will improve user friendliness, clarity of data questions, and accuracy of data reported. These revisions are not of a substantial manner nor significantly different from the original collection, but are proposed to provide clarity and consistency. In many areas, the data element language has been modified with direct language instead of passive terminology.

Dated: May 22, 2014.

Tomakie Washington,

Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Privacy, Information and Records Management Services, Office of Management.