[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10651-10652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-03685]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Economic Development Administration
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collections
of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44
U.S.C. chapter 35).
Agency: Economic Development Administration (EDA), Department of
Commerce.
Title: Semi-Annual and Annual Data Collection Instruments for EDA
Grant and Cooperative Agreement Award Recipients.
OMB Control Number: 0610-0098.
Form Number(s): ED-915, ED-916, ED-917, and ED-918.
Type of Request: Revision of currently approved information
collections (Forms ED-916, ED-917, and ED-918) and extension without
revision of a currently approved information collection (Form ED-915).
Number of Respondents: 2,150 (revised Forms ED-916, ED-917, and ED-
918: 550 semiannual respondents and 550 annual respondents; extended
Form ED-915: 500 respondents).
Average Hours per Response: 2.5 to 8 hours (revised Forms ED-916,
ED-917, and ED-918: 2.5 hours semiannually and 6 hours annually;
extended Form ED-915: 8 hours).
Burden Hours: 10,050 hours (revised Forms ED-916, ED-917, and ED-
918: 2,750 hours semiannually and 3,300 hours annually; extended Form
ED-915: 4,000 hours).
Needs and Uses: EDA must comply with the Government Performance and
Results Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-62) and the GPRA Modernization Act of
2010 (Pub. L. 111-352), which require Federal agencies to develop
performance measures and report to Congress and stakeholders the
results of the agency's performance. EDA's diverse portfolio of
programs, the changing economy, and advances in the field of program
evaluation make updates to
[[Page 10652]]
EDA's methods for performance measurement and program evaluation
necessary in order to ensure transparency, accountability, and
effectiveness of EDA investments. The recently passed Foundations for
Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-435) further
emphasizes the importance of updating existing methodologies for
performance measurement and program evaluation to align with evolving
best practices.
EDA proposes revising Forms ED-916, ED-917, and ED-918, which are
currently used to collect limited performance information on sponsored
activities and resulting outcomes from the grantees receiving
assistance under just three of EDA's non-infrastructure programs:
Partnership Planning, University Center, and the Trade and Adjustment
Assistance for Firms, respectively. The revised Forms ED-916, ED-917,
and ED-918 would instead comprehensively cover all of EDA's non-
infrastructure programs: Economic Adjustment Assistance (non-
infrastructure projects), including new Revolving Loan Funds; Planning,
including Partnership Planning; Local Technical Assistance, including
University Centers; Build to Scale (formerly Regional Innovation
Strategies); Research and National Technical Assistance; and Trade
Adjustment Assistance for Firms. The data on program-sponsored
activities and associated outcomes will be collected on semi-annual and
annual bases, respectively.
The revised data collection instruments were developed through
cooperative agreements with a number of leading research institutions,
most notably SRI International. The methodology and applications for
the instruments are described in the Innovative Metrics for Economic
Development report and Toolkit for Economic Development Practitioners
that are available on EDA's website at www.eda.gov/performance/.
EDA does not propose to revise the remaining fourth form under this
information collection, Form ED-915, which is used to collect
information on infrastructure and existing revolving loan fund (RLF)
projects funded through awards from EDA's Public works and Economic
Adjustment Assistance programs. Form ED-915 would instead be extended
without change; however, EDA plans to revise Form ED-915 in the future
to update the information collected on infrastructure projects. Note
that all RLF awards made after the implementation of the revised Forms
ED-916, ED-917, and ED-918 will be required to report performance
information using those Forms; this requirement may be extended to all
RLF awards when Form ED-915 is revised.
Affected Public: State and local governments; Development
Organizations; Indian Tribes; Institutions of higher education; and
Nonprofit organizations.
Frequency: Semi-annual and Annual.
Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
This information collection request may be viewed at reginfo.gov.
Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce collections
currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice
to [email protected] or faxed to (202) 395-5806.
Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-03685 Filed 2-24-20; 8:45 am]
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