Department of Education April 27, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Secretary proposes to amend the regulations in 34 CFR part 76 governing State reporting requirements. States are required to submit their performance reports, financial reports, and any other required reports, in the manner prescribed by the Secretary, including through electronic submission, if the Secretary has obtained approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The amendments proposed in this notice would provide that: (1) Failure to submit these reports in the manner prescribed by the Secretary constitutes a failure, under section 454 of the General Education Provisions Act, 20 U.S.C. 1234c, to comply substantially with a requirement of law applicable to the funds made available under the program for which the reports are submitted; and (2) if the Secretary chooses to require submission of information electronically, the Secretary may establish a transition period during which a State would not be required to submit such information electronically in the format prescribed by the Secretary, if the State meets certain requirements. The Secretary proposes these changes to the regulations in 34 CFR part 76 to highlight that the U.S. Department of Education (Department) may require, through the PRA clearance process, that States report certain information electronically; and to establish that the Department may take administrative action against a State for failure to submit reports in the manner prescribed by the Secretary. The proposed changes will facilitate the use of the Department's electronic EDFacts data management system (EDFacts) (Approved under OMB Control No. 1880-0541) for electronic submission of certain reports and provide the Department with more timely and accessible data for accountability and decision-making. The Department's goal in requiring electronic submission of information is to reduce State reporting burden significantly and to streamline dozens of data collections currently required by the Department.