[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 159 (Monday, August 18, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44006-44007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21817]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5876-7]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request; Obtaining Unbilled Grant Expenses From Grant
Officials at Year-End
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.), this notice announces that the following Information
Collection Request (ICR) has been forwarded to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval: Obtaining Unbilled Grant
Expenses From Grant Officials at year-end, EPA ICR No. 1810.01. The ICR
describes the nature of the information collection and its expected
burden and cost.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 17, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR A COPY CALL: Sandy Farmer at EPA, (202) 260-
2740, and refer to EPA ICR No. 1810.01
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Obtaining Unbilled Grant Expenses From Grant Officials at
Year-end (EPA ICR No. 1810.01). This is a new collection.
Abstract: EPA's Financial Management Division (FMD) prepares annual
financial statements that present the financial position and results of
operations for EPA. The financial statements must comply with the
Statements of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) and other
accounting requirements. EPA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG)
audits these financial statements to determine whether they fairly and
accurately reflect EPA financial conditions.
To meet the SFFAS requirements, EPA must report the estimated
amount of its accrued liabilities. These accrued liabilities include:
(1) Grant expenses incurred during the fiscal year that the grant
recipient has paid and recorded in its accounting records but has not
yet billed to EPA; and (2) grant expenses that vendors have billed the
grant recipient between October 1 and November 15 (following the end of
the Federal fiscal year) that relate to the prior fiscal year. EPA,
working with its OIG, has evaluated the use of existing reports as a
source of accrued liability information. However, for grants paid
through the ACH electronic funds transfer mechanism, EPA has been
unable to determine how to obtain this information without contacting
the grant recipients themselves. ACH drawdown requests do not include
period of performance data, which is essential for determining
accruals. To minimize the amount of burden associated with gathering
this data, EPA believes that information from a sample of 103 grants is
sufficient to meet its financial statement needs. EPA would use
estimation techniques to project the amount of grant accruals
applicable to all EPA grants paid through ACH.
The grant recipients selected in the sample would only be asked to
report the accrual information on the specific grant, and not all EPA
grants to that grantee. Further, other EPA grant recipients would not
be affected by this information collection request. EPA will also
request information from the selected grant recipients on their billing
practices in order to conduct additional analyses to improve our
accrual estimates.
Unless EPA is able to obtain this information from the selected
grant recipients, and develop a reasonable estimate of accruals based
on that data, EPA does not believe it will be able to obtain an
unqualified (``clean'') audit opinion from the OIG on its financial
statements. Thus the information is crucial for EPA to meet its
fiduciary responsibilities.
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
[[Page 44007]]
control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations are
listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR Ch. 15. The Federal Register notice
required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on this collection
of information was published on June 3, 1997, (FR Vol. 62, No. 106); 1
comment was received asking for clarification of the information EPA
was requesting.
Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and record keeping
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 6.75
hours per response. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or
disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This
includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire,
install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of
collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and
maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information;
adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable
instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to
a collection of informa-tion; search data sources; complete and review
the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the
information.
Respondents/Affected Entities: Entities receiving grants from EPA.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 103.
Frequency of Response: 1.
Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 695 hours.
Estimated Total Annualized Cost Burden: $15,647.50.
Send comments on the Agency's need for this information, the
accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods
for minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of
automated collection techniques to the following addresses. Please
refer to EPA ICR No. 1810.01 in any correspondence.
Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OPPE Regulatory
Information Division (2137), 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460
and
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20503.
Dated: August 13, 1997.
Richard Westlund,
Acting Regulatory Information Division.
[FR Doc. 97-21817 Filed 8-15-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
