National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities April 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Endowment for the Humanities (``NEH'') is publishing a notice of its systems of records with descriptions of the systems and the ways in which they are maintained, as required by the Privacy Act of 1974. NEH's mission has not changed since its inception in 1965: It extends federal financial assistance to support humanities-related projects, conducted by both individuals and organizations. In that endeavor, it employs staff and special government employees, and engages academic peer reviewers, to evaluate grant applications. NEH created several systems of records to maintain records concerning the individuals with whom it regularly interacts: e.g., grant applicants, employees, peer reviewers, contractors and vendors. As with its mission, the categories of individuals with whom NEH interacts and the systems it created to host records regarding such individuals have not changed significantly since NEH's inception. This notice reflects administrative and operational changes that have been made at NEH since it last published notice of its systems of records, such as agency restructuring and the increased use of electronic technology. This notice will enable individuals who wish to access information maintained in NEH systems of records to make accurate and specific requests for such information. This notice does not reflect, nor has NEH undertaken, significant changes to the numbers or categories of individuals about whom it maintains records in its systems of records, the categories of records maintained in these systems, the purpose for which it maintains these systems, or the availability of information contained in these systems. This notice also reflects certain new routine uses requested by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Government Information Services of the National Archives and Records Administration, as well as routine uses that are standard within other federal agencies.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This program helps to ensure that requested data is provided in the desired format; reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized; collection instruments are clearly understood; and the impact of collection requirements on respondents is properly assessed. Currently, the National Endowment for the Arts is soliciting comments concerning the proposed information collection for applications from students for Agency Initiatives Poetry Out Loud or the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge for High School Students. A copy of the information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the address section of this notice.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the NEA is soliciting comments concerning the proposed information collection for the Evaluation of the Poetry Out Loud Program (POL). A copy of the current information collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the address section of this notice.