Final Requirements; American Rescue Plan Act Homeless Children and Youth Program, 36222-36227 [2021-14705]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 129 (Friday, July 9, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36222-36227]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14705]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter II

RIN 1801-AA24


Final Requirements; American Rescue Plan Act Homeless Children 
and Youth Program

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Final requirements.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Education (Department) establishes 
requirements for the Homeless Children and Youth program (ARP-HCY), 
under section 2001(b)(1) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP 
Act). These requirements are intended to clarify program requirements 
and streamline and clarify the process for State educational agencies 
(SEAs) to award subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs).

DATES: These final requirements take effect July 9, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deborah Spitz, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room 3W200, Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone: (202) 260-3793. Email: [email protected].

[[Page 36223]]

    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Purpose of Program: The ARP-HCY program provides a total of $800 
million for the Secretary of Education (Secretary) to use for the 
purposes of identifying homeless children and youth and providing 
homeless children and youth with wrap-around services in light of the 
challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and assistance needed to enable 
homeless children and youth to attend school and participate fully in 
school activities. These funds may be used by States to address urgent 
needs of children and youth experiencing homelessness--including 
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The funds will 
also be used by States and local educational agencies (LEAs) to 
increase capacity by hiring staff, dedicating resources, and planning 
partnerships with community-based organizations, among other 
strategies.
    Program Authority: Section 2001(b)(1) of the ARP Act, Public Law 
117-2, March 11, 2021.
    Background: The ARP-HCY program provides $800 million to fund vital 
assistance to homeless children and youth. On April 26, 2021, the 
Department released approximately 25 percent of these funds (ARP 
Homeless I) as a supplement to SEAs' grants under the Education for 
Homeless Children and Youths (EHCY) program authorized by Title VII-B 
of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Act). 
SEAs and LEAs may use ARP Homeless I funds for a wide range of services 
and activities, including tutoring, transportation, coordination with 
housing, health and social services, counseling, and other supports for 
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, to address the 
urgent needs of homeless children and youth. Funds may also be used to 
build SEA and LEA capacity to effectively administer these funds. SEAs 
were encouraged to use the initial disbursement of funds to supplement 
existing EHCY grants, and many have done so or are in the process of 
doing so.
    The Secretary is establishing final requirements for the second 
disbursement of ARP-HCY funds (ARP Homeless II) related to program 
requirements and the formula for the SEAs' distribution of these funds 
to LEAs.
    In paragraph (a) of the final requirements, the Department provides 
that the requirements apply to an SEA's ARP Homeless II allocation.
    Paragraph (b) provides that the funds are subject to all provisions 
of Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento Act, except as provided in 
paragraph (c), which governs subgrants to LEAs. The Department 
establishes this requirement because the EHCY program supports an 
existing infrastructure of State Coordinators in States and local 
liaisons in LEAs. Furthermore, the allowable activities under this 
program are broadly defined and meet a wide range of academic, social, 
emotional, and mental health needs of children and youth experiencing 
homelessness. Creating a program with different requirements and a 
different infrastructure is likely to result in confusion and 
duplication of efforts, at a time when students urgently need support.
    Paragraph (c) of the requirements contains a formula for the SEAs' 
distribution of funds to LEAs from the funds remaining after the SEA 
State activities reservation (which may be up to 25 percent of the 
SEA's award, consistent with section 722(e)(2) of the McKinney-Vento 
Act). The McKinney-Vento Act includes a statutory requirement that 
States distribute at least 75 percent of funds to LEAs. It also 
requires SEAs to award these funds competitively to LEAs using criteria 
based on need and quality. This requirement ensures that the limited 
EHCY program funds that have historically been appropriated under this 
program are distributed to the LEAs with the greatest need but has also 
resulted in only approximately 25 percent of LEAs receiving EHCY 
subgrants. Given the substantial increase in funding for supports and 
services for homeless children and youth under the ARP Act, the need 
for rapid distribution to meet urgent student needs, and the importance 
of serving students experiencing homelessness in communities that have 
not historically participated in the EHCY subgrant program, the 
Department establishes a requirement in paragraph (c)(1) that the SEA 
distribute the ARP Homeless II funds to LEAs by formula rather than 
competition. Requiring SEAs to distribute the ARP Homeless II funds to 
LEAs by formula will ensure that the vast majority of LEAs will be able 
to receive subgrants.
    The formula is based equally on the proportional share of an LEA's 
allocation under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) for the most recent fiscal year, and the 
LEA's proportional share of the number of homeless children and youth 
identified by each LEA relative to all LEAs in the State, using the 
greater of the number of homeless children and youth in either the 
2018-19 or 2019-20 school year in each LEA. This formula ensures a 
balance in the distribution of funds to focus on the needs of the LEAs, 
considering both the LEA's number of low-income students and the number 
of homeless children and youth. In addition, allowing the use of either 
the 2018-19 school year or 2019-20 school year homeless counts takes 
into consideration the potential for undercounting in the 2019-20 
school year due to COVID-19 by allowing LEAs to use the greater of the 
two numbers.
    The Department establishes in paragraph (c)(2) that an LEA must 
have an allocation of at least $5,000 under the formula to be eligible 
for an ARP Homeless II subgrant on its own. This $5,000 minimum will 
enable each subgrantee to have sufficient ARP Homeless II funds to 
address the needs of homeless children and youth. We chose as the 
threshold the smallest amount reasonable to sufficiently implement a 
local program. If an LEA's allocation would be less than $5,000, in 
order to receive an ARP Homeless II subgrant, the LEA must join a 
consortium of LEAs in which the sum of its members' allocations meets 
the $5,000 threshold. For LEAs with an allocation less than $5,000, the 
rule encourages the use of consortia to create favorable economies of 
scale.
    Final Requirements: The Secretary establishes the following final 
requirements for the ARP-HCY program.
    (a) Applicability. These requirements apply to a State educational 
agency's (SEA) second allocation of funds from the Department of 
Education under section 2001(b)(1) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 
2021 (ARP Homeless II).
    (b) Program administration. The funds described in paragraph (a) 
are subject to all provisions of Title VII-B of the McKinney-Vento 
Homeless Assistance Act, except as provided in paragraph (c).
    (c) Subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs).
    (1) Each SEA must award subgrants by allocating not less than 75 
percent of the funds it receives under the ARP Homeless II program to 
LEAs as follows:
    (i) 50 percent in proportion to the amount that each LEA received 
under Part A of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965, as amended, for the most recent fiscal year; and
    (ii) 50 percent in proportion to the number of homeless children 
and youth

[[Page 36224]]

identified by each LEA relative to all LEAs in the State, using the 
greater of the number of homeless children and youth in either the 
2018-19 or 2019-20 school year in each LEA.
    (2) An SEA may not make a subgrant to an LEA under paragraph (c)(1) 
if the amount of such subgrant would be less than $5,000. An LEA that 
does not meet this minimum allocation requirement may receive a 
subgrant only as part of a consortium with other LEAs if the total of 
their combined allocations is at least $5,000.
    (3) For the purpose of paragraph (c), a consortium means a 
subgrantee that consists of more than one LEA.

Waiver of Notice and Comment Rulemaking and Delayed Effective Date

    Under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553), the 
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to 
comment on proposed requirements. However, the APA provides that an 
agency is not required to conduct notice and comment rulemaking when 
the agency for good cause finds that notice and public comment thereon 
are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. 5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(B). Here, there is good cause to waive notice and comment 
rulemaking due to the urgent needs of children and youth experiencing 
homelessness in light of the national pandemic, as going through the 
full rulemaking process would delay the awarding of these grants to 
SEAs and LEAs.
    The good cause exception is appropriate ``in emergency situations 
or where delay could result in serious harm.'' See Jifry v. FAA, 370 
F.3d 1174, 1179 (D.C. Cir. 2004) (internal citations omitted). ``The 
public interest prong of the good cause exception to the APA notice and 
comment requirement is met only in the rare circumstance when ordinary 
procedures--generally presumed to serve the public interest--would in 
fact harm that interest.'' Mack Trucks Inc. v. E.P.A., 682 F.3d 87, 95 
(D.C. Cir. 2012).
    The ARP-HCY funds are intended to support the specific and urgent 
needs of homeless children and youth due to the extraordinary impact of 
the pandemic on students experiencing homelessness, including reduced 
identification of such students, decreased enrollment in school, 
interrupted classroom instruction, and challenges navigating services 
for shelter/housing, clothing and school supplies, food, and child 
care. Due to the emergency nature of this situation, there is not time 
for public notice and comment. By establishing these requirements now, 
SEAs and LEAs may more quickly and effectively plan for and use ARP-HCY 
funds to address the needs of homeless children and youth. Establishing 
the final rule now will give SEAs the opportunity to award ARP Homeless 
II funds to LEAs by the start of the 2021-22 school year (which can be 
early August in some States). During the school closures following 
March 2020, many students experiencing homelessness became disengaged, 
stopped attending regularly or submitting assignments, became 
chronically absent, or dropped out. Those students will need intensive 
educationally related support services beginning from the first day of 
the new school year. A delay of even two months to the final 
requirement and disbursement of funds for ARP Homeless II will prolong 
the interruptions in learning for hundreds of thousands of students 
experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. The beginning of the 
school year is a critical time for identifying and connecting students 
experiencing homelessness to remediation and support services. For 
example, if funds are not awarded to LEAs before September, it will be 
difficult for schools to place students who are identified as 
experiencing homelessness in classes at the appropriate grade level, 
delaying access to critical support services and prolonging 
interruption in learning caused by the pandemic.
    The APA also requires that regulations be published at least 30 
days before their effective date, unless the agency has good cause to 
implement its regulations sooner (5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3)). As discussed 
above, because the ARP-HCY funds are needed to address the immediate 
needs of homeless children and youth, the Secretary also has good cause 
to waive the 30-day delay in the effective date of these requirements 
under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

Regulatory Impact Analysis

    Under Executive Order 12866, the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) must determine whether this regulatory action is ``significant'' 
and, therefore, subject to the requirements of the Executive order and 
subject to review by OMB. Section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866 defines 
a significant regulatory action as an action likely to result in a rule 
that may--
    (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more, 
or adversely affect a sector of the economy; productivity; competition; 
jobs; the environment; public health or safety; or State, local, or 
Tribal governments or communities in a material way (also referred to 
as ``economically significant'' regulations);
    (2) Create serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an 
action taken or planned by another agency;
    (3) Materially alter the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants, 
user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients 
thereof; or
    (4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal 
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles stated in the 
Executive order.
    This regulatory action is an economically significant regulatory 
action subject to review by OMB under section 3(f) of Executive Order 
12866. Pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs designated this rule 
as a ``major rule,'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
    We have also reviewed this regulatory action under Executive Order 
13563, which supplements and explicitly reaffirms the principles, 
structures, and definitions governing regulatory review established in 
Executive Order 12866. To the extent permitted by law, Executive Order 
13563 requires that an agency--
    (1) Propose or adopt regulations only upon a reasoned determination 
that their benefits justify their costs (recognizing that some benefits 
and costs are difficult to quantify);
    (2) Tailor its regulations to impose the least burden on society, 
consistent with obtaining regulatory objectives and taking into 
account, among other things, and to the extent practicable, the costs 
of cumulative regulations;
    (3) In choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, select 
those approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential 
economic, environmental, public health and safety, and other 
advantages; distributive impacts; and equity);
    (4) To the extent feasible, specify performance objectives, rather 
than the behavior or manner of compliance a regulated entity must 
adopt; and
    (5) Identify and assess available alternatives to direct 
regulation, including economic incentives--such as user fees or 
marketable permits--to encourage the desired behavior, or providing 
information that enables the public to make choices.
    Executive Order 13563 also requires an agency ``to use the best 
available techniques to quantify anticipated present and future 
benefits and costs as accurately as possible.'' The Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB has emphasized that these

[[Page 36225]]

techniques may include ``identifying changing future compliance costs 
that might result from technological innovation or anticipated 
behavioral changes.''
    The Department has assessed the potential costs and benefits, both 
quantitative and qualitative, of this regulatory action, and we are 
issuing these final requirements only on a reasoned determination that 
their benefits justify their costs. In choosing among alternative 
regulatory approaches, we selected those approaches that would maximize 
net benefits. Based on the analysis that follows and the reasons stated 
elsewhere in this document, the Department believes that the final 
requirements are consistent with the principles in Executive Order 
13563.
    We also have determined that this regulatory action does not unduly 
interfere with State, local, or Tribal governments in the exercise of 
their governmental functions.
    In this regulatory impact analysis, we discuss the need for 
regulatory action, the potential costs and benefits, and net budget 
impacts. The main benefit of this regulatory action is that funded 
services will get to more students identified as homeless in more LEAs 
more quickly in order to support them and address the impact of lost 
instructional time and the other impacts of the pandemic and virtual 
instruction. The estimated costs and net budget impacts are described 
below.
    Elsewhere, under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we identify 
and explain burdens specifically associated with information collection 
requirements.

Need for Regulatory Action and Analysis of Benefits

    These final requirements are intended to expedite the award of 
emergency funds to serve homeless children and youth. As discussed 
elsewhere in this document, the ARP-HCY program provides vital 
emergency funding to one of the most vulnerable populations. The 
Department believes this regulatory action is needed to ensure that 
SEAs can allocate funds to LEAs in a time-effective manner so that LEAs 
can begin serving homeless children and youth. Requiring SEAs to make 
LEA subgrants by formula allows funds to reach more LEAs, and therefore 
more students experiencing homelessness. These funds will support the 
work of the designated Homeless Liaison in each LEA, as required by the 
McKinney-Vento Act, and build capacity in LEAs, which will help to 
identify greater numbers of students experiencing homelessness and 
better coordinate services for those students in LEAs receiving funding 
through this formula. In addition, the funding under ARP is more than 
seven times greater than the usual appropriation for this program. This 
onetime emergency appropriation provides a unique opportunity to make 
funds more widely available than would be possible with the current 
appropriation of $106.5 million for the Education for Homeless Children 
and Youth program under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
    The alternative, requiring SEAs to conduct competitions before 
making awards, would place an additional burden on SEAs and LEAs, 
increase the time needed to distribute funds, and result in fewer LEAs 
receiving funds. At the SEA level, a typical competition may take three 
to six months and requires developing selection criteria, publishing 
those criteria, providing technical assistance and allowing time for 
LEAs to develop applications, recruiting and training reviewers, 
reviewing the applications, and making awards. In addition to the staff 
time needed to conduct a fair and transparent competition, other 
expenses may include compensation for reviewers and logistical support 
for the review process. At the LEA level, costs are incurred in the 
time needed to develop an application, including identifying and 
collaborating with partners, and the administrative processes needed to 
complete the application and obtain approval for submission. Some LEAs, 
even those with high need, will decline to apply for competitive grants 
due to these costs and the uncertainty of receiving a grant. In 
contrast, SEAs already have access to the data and expertise required 
to run the proposed allocations formula as well as to systems to award 
the funding to LEAs, as they already administer other Federal formula 
programs.
    We estimate that running a State-level grant competition will take 
four to six months, and hundreds of staff hours, depending on the 
number of LEAs in the State who apply for a grant. However, awarding 
subgrants via a formula would take on average 10-20 hours, with an 
additional one to two weeks for outreach and technical assistance. At 
the LEA level, applying for a competitive subgrant could take two weeks 
to develop and finalize an application; a formula subgrant might take 
up to 10 hours.
    In both scenarios, the reporting burden from the SEA to the 
Department is small, since the only new information the Department 
expects to collect is a list of grantees for ARP Homeless I and II 
disbursements. The Department already collects data from all LEAs in 
each State for homeless children and youth, whether they receive a 
McKinney-Vento subgrant or not.

Analysis of Costs

    The Department's cost analysis shows that making subgrants by 
formula is a less costly option overall. As discussed in the previous 
section, carrying out a competition is a complex, multistep process 
that occurs over months. The Department estimates that it would take an 
SEA between 160 to 320 hours to conduct a competition, at an 
approximate cost of $707,000 to $1,415,000 for 49 SEAs. (SEAs that 
consist of only one LEA would not need to carry out a competition.) The 
cost estimates in this section are based on an hourly wage of $45.11, 
the mean wage estimate for education administrators, other, reported by 
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is multiplied by two to 
account for overhead and benefits.
    In addition, we estimate that LEAs applying for grants under a 
competition would need 80 to 100 hours to prepare an application. 
Because more funding is available under the ARP than under the regular 
appropriation for the Education for Homeless Children and Youth 
program, we estimate that more LEAs would apply and receive subgrants 
than the 4,400 that currently receive subgrants, and the cost estimate 
assumes that 5,000 LEAs would apply for funds. Using wages as described 
above, the estimated cost for applications for subgrants would be 
approximately $36.1 million to $45.1 million, and the total cost for 
distributing funds via a competition would be approximately $36.8 
million to $46.5 million.
    In order to distribute funds via formula the Department estimates 
that SEAs would need 10 to 15 hours to run the formula and distribute 
funds, and another 40 to 80 hours to conduct outreach to LEAs and help 
LEAs that would receive less than $5,000 to create consortia with other 
LEAs. Using wages as described above, the estimated cost for 49 SEAs 
for these activities would be $221,000 to $420,000. The estimated cost 
for LEAs to receive subgrants assumes 5 to 10 hours to complete forms 
and minimal applications for formula funding. The estimate also assumes 
that approximately 15,000 LEAs would receive funding under the formula, 
far more than the 5,000 LEAs we estimate would receive funding under a 
competition for subgrants. The estimated costs to LEAs would be $6.8 
million to $13.5 million, and the total

[[Page 36226]]

estimated cost for distributing funds via formula would be $7.0 million 
to $14.0 million. Taking the mean of this range, the estimated cost for 
distributing funds via formula would be $10.5 million.
    Not only does distributing funds via formula present a less costly 
option, but it also provides several benefits over conducting a 
competition as discussed in other sections of this document. The main 
benefits are that formula distribution takes less time and would allow 
LEAs to receive funds when the school year starts. Furthermore, more 
LEAs would receive funding, allowing more students to receive services.

Net Budget Impacts

    We estimate that the discretionary elements of the final 
requirements will not have an impact on the Federal budget. The 
requirements for SEAs and LEAs receiving ARP-HCY funds do not affect 
the amount of funding available for this program. We anticipate that 
$799 million in ARP-HCY funds will be disbursed in 2021, and therefore 
estimate $799 million in transfers in 2021 relative to a pre-statutory 
baseline.

Accounting Statement

    As required by OMB Circular A-4, in the following table, we have 
prepared an accounting statement showing the classification of the 
expenditures associated with the provisions of this regulatory action. 
This table provides our best estimate of the Federal payments to be 
made to SEAs under this program as a result of this regulatory action. 
Expenditures are classified as transfers to those entities.

  Table--Accounting Statement Classification of Estimated Expenditures
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Category                        Costs (in millions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Costs..............................  $10.5.
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                 Category                      Transfers (in millions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Monetized Transfers................  $799.0.
From Whom to Whom.........................  Federal Government to SEAs.
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Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act does not apply to this rulemaking 
because there is good cause to waive notice and comment under the 
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553).

Clarity of the Regulatory Action

    Executive Order 12866 and the Presidential memorandum ``Plain 
Language in Government Writing'' require each agency to write 
regulations that are easy to understand.
    The Secretary invites comments on how to make this regulatory 
action easier to understand, including answers to questions such as the 
following:
     Are the requirements in the regulatory action clearly 
stated?
     Do the regulatory actions contain technical terms or other 
wording that interferes with their clarity?
     Does the format of the regulatory action (grouping and 
order of sections, use of headings, paragraphing, etc.) aid or reduce 
their clarity?
     Would the regulatory action be easier to understand if we 
divided them into more (but shorter) sections?
     Could the description of the regulatory action in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this preamble be more helpful in 
making the regulatory action easier to understand? If so, how?
     What else could we do to make the regulatory action easier 
to understand?
    To send any comments that concern how the Department could make 
this regulatory action easier to understand, see the instructions in 
the ADDRESSES section.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burden, the Department provides the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections 
of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(``PRA'') (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This helps ensure that the public 
understands the Department's collection instructions, respondents 
provide the requested data in the desired format, reporting burden 
(time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are 
clearly understood, and the Department can properly assess the impact 
of collection requirements on respondents.
    A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of 
information unless OMB approves the collection under the PRA and the 
corresponding information collection instrument displays a currently 
valid OMB control number. Notwithstanding any other provision of the 
law, no person is required to comply with, or is subject to penalty for 
failure to comply with, a collection of information if the collection 
instrument does not display a currently-valid OMB control number.
    As discussed in the Need for Regulatory Action and Analysis of 
Benefits section of the Regulatory Impact Statement, this final 
requirement that SEAs distribute the ARP Homeless II funds to LEAs by 
formula rather than competition will create burden hours and costs for 
both LEAs and SEAs. Below we estimate the annual burden hours and costs 
for LEAs to complete forms and minimal applications. In addition, the 
Department is requesting an ARP-HCY plan from each SEA. The burden 
hours and cost associated with completing and submitting the SEA ARP-
HCY plan are estimated below. The cost estimates in this section are 
based on an hourly wage of $45.11, the mean wage estimate for education 
administrators, other, reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
which is multiplied by two to account for overhead and benefits, for a 
total hourly wage estimate of $90.22.
    We estimate 7.5 burden hours for each of the approximately 15,000 
LEAs to complete forms and minimal applications for formula funding. 
The total estimated costs to LEAs would be $10,150,000 and the total 
estimated burden hours would be 112,500.
    We estimate that one plan will be received from 52 SEAs. For the 
time to complete and submit the plan, we estimate that the number of 
burden hours per response will be 22 hours. The total estimated number 
of burden hours is 1,144 hours. At $90.22 per hour, the total estimated 
cost for 52 SEAs to complete and submit the ARP-HCY plan approximately 
$103,300.
    Collectively, we estimate that these new information collection 
activities will result in a total estimated cost of $10,253,300 and a 
total estimated burden of 113,644 hours to the public annually.
    The Department is requesting an emergency paperwork clearance from 
OMB under 5 CFR 1320.13 on the data collection activities associated 
with these final requirements. That request will account for all burden 
hours and cost discussed within this section. As required by 5 CFR 
1320.8(d), the Department is soliciting comments on the information 
collection. We must receive your comments on the collection activities 
contained in these final requirements on or before August 9, 2021. 
Comments related to the information collection activities must be 
submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number ED-2021-OESE-xxx 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery by 
referencing the Docket ID number and the title of the information 
collection request at the top of your comment. Comments submitted by 
postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the PRA Coordinator of 
the Strategic Collections and Clearance Governance and Strategy 
Division, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland

[[Page 36227]]

Ave. SW, LBJ, Room 6W208D, Washington, DC 20202-8240.
    Note: The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in OMB and 
the Department review all comments related to the information 
collection activities posted at www.regulations.gov.

                                            Collection of Information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Estimated                         Total      Estimated cost
         Information collection activity              number         Hours per       estimated     at an hourly
                                                     responses       response      burden hours   rate of $90.22
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LEA Completion of Forms and Applications to SEA.          15,000             7.5         112,500     $10,150,000
SEA ARP-HCY Plans...............................              52              22           1,144         103,300
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Annualized Total............................          15,052  ..............         113,644      10,253,300
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Intergovernmental Review

    The ARP-HCY program is not subject to Executive Order 12372 and the 
regulations in 34 CFR part 79.
    Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities 
can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will 
provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich 
Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, 
braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible 
format.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this 
document, as well as all other documents of this Department published 
in the Federal Register, in text or portable document format (PDF). To 
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
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    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

Ian Rosenblum,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Programs, Delegated the 
Authority to Perform the Functions and Duties of the Assistant 
Secretary, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 2021-14705 Filed 7-8-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P