2011-13274. Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Cuban Remittance Affidavit

AGENCY:

Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning OFAC's Cuban Remittance Affidavit information collection.

DATES:

Written comments must be submitted on or before July 26, 2011 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions on the Web site for submitting comments.

Fax: Attn: Request for Comments (Cuban Remittance Affidavit) [phone]

Mail: Attn: Request for Comments (Cuban Remittance Affidavit) Office of Foreign Assets Control, Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20220.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and the Federal Register Doc. number that appears at the end of this document. Comments received will be made available to the public via regulations.gov or upon request, without change and including any personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Assistant Director for Sanctions Compliance & Evaluation, tel.: [phone], Assistant Director for Licensing, tel.: [phone], Assistant Director for Policy, tel.: [phone], Office of Foreign Assets Control, or Chief Counsel (Foreign Assets Control), tel.: [phone], Office of the General Counsel, Department of the Treasury (not toll free numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Cuban Remittance Affidavit.

OMB Number: 1505-0167.

Abstract: The information is required of persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States who make remittances to persons in Cuba pursuant to the general licenses in section 515.570 of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 CFR part 515 (“CACR”). The information will be used by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury (“OFAC”) to monitor compliance with regulations governing unlimited family and family inherited remittances, periodic $500 remittances, unlimited remittances to religious organizations, remittances to students in Cuba pursuant to an educational license, limited emigration remittances, and periodic remittances from blocked accounts.

Current Actions: The Cuban Remittance Affidavit is currently being revised to reflect amendments to the CACR published in the Federal Register on January 28, 2011, which implement policy changes announced by the President on January 14, 2011, designed to increase people-to-people contact, support civil society in Cuba, enhance the free flow of information to, from, and among the Cuban people, and help promote their independence from Cuban authorities.

Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Individuals or households.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,000,000 filers: 1,000,000 filing four times annually and 2,000,000 filing once a year.

Estimated Time per Respondent: 60 seconds per form, for an estimated four minutes per year for those filing four times annually and one minute per year for those filing once a year.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 100,000.

The following paragraph applies to all of the collections of information covered by this notice:

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of information displays a valid Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) control number. Books or records relating to a collection of information must be retained for five years.

Request for Comments

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.

Approved: May 24, 2011, 2011.

Adam J. Szubin,

Director, Office of Foreign Assets Control.