Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Regional Economic Development Data Collection Instrument, 7684 [2023-02387]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• Economic Development Administration

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 24 (Monday, February 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 7684]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02387]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Economic Development Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Regional Economic Development Data Collection Instrument

    The Department of Commerce will submit the following information 
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the 
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and 
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of 
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the 
Federal Register on November 16, 2022 (87 FR 68674) during a 60-day 
comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public 
comments.
    Agency: Economic Development Administration (EDA), Commerce.
    Title: Regional Economic Development Data Collection Instrument.
    OMB Control Number: New information collection.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission; new information collection.
    Estimated Number of Respondents and Frequency: A total of 21 
coalitions (with a designated lead) will respond on a quarterly basis. 
As the Build Back Better Regional Challenge is a new grant program, EDA 
anticipates that these estimates will be further refined based on data 
generated during the period of performance of Build Back Better 
Regional Challenge grants.
    Estimated Average Hours per Response: 2.5 hours per respondent/per 
quarter.
    Estimated Burden Hours: 210.
    Needs and Uses: To effectively administer and monitor its economic 
development assistance programs, EDA collects certain information from 
applications for, and recipients of, EDA investment assistance. The 
purpose of this notice is to seek comments from the public and other 
Federal agencies on a request for a new information collection for 
recipients of awards under the EDA American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) 
Build Back Better Regional Challenge.
    The proposed information collection will employ an innovative mixed 
methods approach to gather traditional metrics in addition to 
qualitative data on all regions participating in the Build Back Better 
Regional Challenge program. Secondary data will be gathered and 
monitored for each of the regions/awardees. A quarterly questionnaire 
will be sent to each of the BBBRC coalition leads which will gather the 
relevant data and stories for each of the 21 BBBRC coalitions, 
resulting in coalition regional impact evaluation, resources, and tools 
for regional economic development decision-makers.
    The collection will explore several thematic areas for the Build 
Back Better Regional Challenge, where each of the following areas are 
based on survey scope of work themes:
    1. Accelerating innovation in emerging technologies to gain an 
understanding of the long-term impact of economic and social sectors;
    2. Helping workers access information on new job opportunities, job 
placement, and job training and prepare for and be hired into good 
jobs;
    3. Increasing new business growth and entrepreneurial activities 
within industry sectors;
    4. Building critical infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer 
miles, business and industries to allow for economic development and 
growth; and
    5. Helping businesses adopt new technologies so that they may enter 
new markets, increasing their economic capacity and overall 
sustainability.
    With each of these categories of questions, organized by thematic 
area and noted above, there will be an equity-based questions to 
support greater understanding of how equity is being implemented 
throughout regional economic development projects.
    Coalition leads will respond to the appropriate thematic area, 
answering questions related to the following process and progress;
     Reflections and updates on the coalition implementation 
process and progress;
     The ability to secure additional non-federal investments;
     Detailing the programs, training, and curricula developed/
launched for job training/workforce development; and
     Job creation, wage growth, and existing employee growth 
and development.
    The collection instrument also includes questions related to the 
overall programmatic experience such as Community of Practice support.
    Affected Public: Recipients of Build Back Better Regional Challenge 
awards, which may include a(n): District Organization; Indian Tribe or 
a consortium of Indian Tribes; State, county, city, or other political 
subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of a state or 
local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development 
activities or a consortium of political subdivisions; Institution of 
Higher Education or a consortium of institutions of higher education; 
or Public or private non-profit organization or association, including 
labor unions, acting in cooperation with officials of a political 
subdivision of a State.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory
    Legal Authority: The Public Works and Economic Development Act of 
1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 et seq).
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of 
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering either the title of the collection.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2023-02387 Filed 2-3-23; 8:45 am]
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