Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Form for Maintenance of Effort Waiver Requests, 50024-50025 [2019-20663]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 24, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50024-50025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-20663]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2019-ICCD-0121]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Form 
for Maintenance of Effort Waiver Requests

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), Department 
of Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is 
proposing an extension of an existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
November 25, 2019.

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the documents related to the 
information collection listed in this notice, please use https://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2019-ICCD-
0121. Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted 
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number 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 [email protected]. Please include the docket ID 
number and the title of the information collection request when 
requesting documents or submitting comments. Please note that comments 
submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the comment period 
will not be accepted. 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, 550 12th Street SW, PCP, Room 9086, 
Washington, DC 20202-0023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Todd Stephenson, 202-205-1645.

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: Form for Maintenance of Effort Waiver 
Requests.
    OMB Control Number: 1810-0693.
    Type of Review: An extension of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 20.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 1,600.
    Abstract: Section 8521(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA) 
provides that a local educational agency (LEA) may receive funds under 
Title I, Part A and other ESEA ``covered programs'' for any fiscal year 
only if the State educational agency (SEA) finds that either the 
combined fiscal effort per student or the aggregate expenditures of the 
LEA and the State with respect to the provision of free public 
education by the LEA for the preceding fiscal year was not less than 90 
percent of the combined fiscal effort or aggregate expenditures for the 
second preceding fiscal year. This provision is the maintenance of 
effort (MOE) requirements for LEAs under the ESEA.
    If an LEA fails to meet the MOE requirement, under section 8521(b) 
of the ESEA, the SEA must reduce the amount of funds allocated under 
the programs covered by the MOE requirement in any fiscal year in the 
exact proportion by which the LEA fails to maintain effort by falling 
below 90 percent of either the combined fiscal effort per student or 
aggregate expenditures, if the LEA has also failed to maintain effort 
for 1 or more of the 5 immediately preceding fiscal years. In reducing 
an LEA's allocation because it failed to meet the MOE requirement, the 
SEA uses the measure most favorable to the LEA.
    Section 8521(c) gives the U.S. Department of Education (ED) the 
authority to waive the ESEA's MOE requirement for an LEA if it would be 
equitable to grant the waiver due to an exceptional or uncontrollable 
circumstance such as a natural disaster or a change in the 
organizational structure of the LEA or a precipitous decline in the 
LEA's financial resources. If an MOE waiver is granted, the reduction 
required by section 8521(b) does not occur for that year.
    A request for a waiver of the MOE requirement is discretionary. 
Only an LEA that has failed to maintain effort and that believes its 
failure justifies a waiver would request one. To review an MOE waiver 
request, ED relies primarily on expenditure, revenue, and other data 
relevant to an LEA's request provided by the SEA. To assist an SEA with 
submitting this information, ED developed an MOE waiver form as part of 
the 2009 Title I, Part A Waiver Guidance, which covered a range of 
waivers that ED invited at that time.
    The purpose of this collection is to renew approval for the MOE 
waiver form. This MOE waiver form has been updated to reflect the 
statutory changes in the ESEA, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds 
Act. ED believes that the proposed form, which is slightly modified 
from the currently approved version, will enable an SEA to provide

[[Page 50025]]

the information needed in an efficient manner. This collection includes 
burden at the SEA level.

    Dated: September 19, 2019.
Kate Mullan,
PRA Coordinator, Information Collection Clearance Program, Information 
Management Branch, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2019-20663 Filed 9-23-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P