[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 180 (Tuesday, September 21, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52545-52546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20363]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
[Docket No. DOT-OST-2021-0038]
Agency Request for Renewal and Revision of a Previously Approved
Information Collection: Information Associated With the Aviation
Manufacturing Jobs Protection (AMJP) Program
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public comments
about our intention to request the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approval to renew and revise an information collection. The DOT
is seeking public comment under normal Paperwork Reduction Act
procedures to continue the collection entitled ``Aviation Manufacturing
Jobs Protection,'' which was approved under an emergency clearance
approval by OMB through November 30, 2021. The purpose of the original
information collection was to enable eligible business entities to
apply for payroll assistance under the ``Aviation Manufacturing Jobs
Protection'' program, established by the American Rescue Plan Act of
2021. The continued information collection is necessary to ensure that
eligible recipients continue to meet eligibility requirements and are
compliant with use of funds to provide payroll support for the
established eligible employee group. The continued information
collection will also seek voluntary demographic information for program
evaluation purposes. We are required to publish this notice in the
Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Written comments should be submitted by November 22, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket
Management System (FDMS) Docket Number DOT-OST-2021-0038 using any of
the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Operations; U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.,
Eastern time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Instructions: All submissions must include the Agency name
and docket number. For detailed instructions on submitting comments,
see the Public Participation heading below. Note that all comments
received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov,
including any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act
heading below.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form
of all comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the
individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted
on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may
review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement for the Federal Docket
Management System published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2008
(73 FR 3316), or you may visit https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E8-785.
Public Participation: The Federal eRulemaking Portal is
available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can obtain
electronic submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the
``help'' section of the Federal eRulemaking Portal website. If you want
us to notify you that we received your comments, please include a self-
addressed, stamped envelope or postcard, or print the acknowledgement
page that appears after submitting comments online.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Information related to this
Information Collection Request, including applicable supporting
documentation may be obtained by contacting Alexus Jenkins-Reid (OST-
B1), in the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, via telephone at (202) 366-5112, or
via email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
OMB Control Number: 2106-0048.
Title: Information Associated With the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs
Protection (AMJP) Program.
Form Numbers: New Forms AMJP-1A.2.2, AMJP-1A.2.3, AMJP-1A.2.4,
AMJP-1A.6.4, AMJP-1A.6.5, AMJP-1A.6.6, AMJP-1A6.7 (available at
www.transportation.gov/amjp/resources-recipients).
Type of Review: Renewal and revision of Information Collection
previously approved.
Background: On March 11, 2021, the ``American Rescue Plan Act of
2021'' (ARPA), Public Law (Pub. L.) 117-2, was enacted. Sections 7201
and 7202 established the ``Aviation
[[Page 52546]]
Manufacturing Jobs Protection'' (AMJP) program. The stated purpose of
the program is ``to provide public contributions to supplement
compensation of an eligible employee group'' (which is defined in the
statute), by entering into agreements with qualifying business entities
to pay up to half of the payroll costs for that group of employees for
up to six months, in return for several commitments, including a
commitment that the company will not involuntarily furlough or lay off
employees within that group. Individual employees (including contract
employees) are not eligible to apply for assistance under this program.
Application for assistance under the AMJP was voluntary. No
business was required to apply. To be eligible, however, businesses
were required to meet all the requirements set forth in the law.
Therefore, DOT was required to collect certain information from
applicants to determine eligibility. DOT must also verify the accuracy
of specific payment requests from approved applicants, in accordance
with other laws and regulations governing Federal financial assistance
programs, including (but not limited to) the Antideficiency Act, the
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA), the
Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019, and applicable provisions in
2 CFR part 200, among others.
The ARPA required DOT to reduce funding on a pro rata basis if
eligible requests exceeded available funds. Therefore, DOT planned to
conduct a single-round, expedited application process to identify all
eligible requests before beginning the award process.
Accordingly, DOT developed a process and system to enable
businesses to apply for financial assistance under the AMJP. DOT used
an online, web-based system to collect the information outlined in the
notice at 86 FR 19695.
DOT subsequently announced the beginning of the application process
on June 14, 2021, via notice at 86 FR 31573. DOT posted the application
instructions online at https://www.transportation.gov/AMJP/apply. The
application process was open for four weeks, from June 14, 2021 through
July 13, 2021. DOT subsequently reopened the application process for
another four-week period ending September 1, 2021.
Now that the application process is complete, DOT is renewing and
updating this information collection. DOT will continue to require
eligible recipients to attest that they continue to meet all the
original eligibility requirements as previously outlined, as well as
the following information:
A sworn certification as to the complete and accurate
nature of all information provided, including all supporting
documentation, subject to civil or criminal penalties. The specific
certification language is in the forms referenced above and section 4.8
of the General Terms And Conditions Under The Aviation Manufacturing
Jobs Protection Program.\1\
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\1\ See https://www.transportation.gov/amjp/resources-recipients
for text of a sample AMJP agreement, including the General Terms and
Conditions.
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After DOT determines eligibility and enters into an
agreement with the applicant (referred to hereafter as ``the
recipient''), DOT will also require the recipient to provide the actual
aggregate total cost of compensation for the Eligible Employee Group
during the period of the agreement with DOT, in order for DOT to review
and approve actual disbursements pursuant to the agreement. Recipients
will be required to provide supporting documentation in sufficient
detail to substantiate the actual costs, specifically excluding any
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for any individual employees.
Recipients will also be required to provide additional supporting
information and certifications in support of disbursement requests. See
Forms AMJP-1A-6.4, AMJP-1A-6.6, and AMJP-1A-6.7.
DOT may also ask recipient businesses to submit voluntary
reports regarding demographic data associated with the workforce that
is and is not included in the Eligible Employee Group. This would be
voluntary on the part of the employer, and based solely on voluntary
data self-reported by employees, disaggregated from any Personally
Identifiable Information in order to avoid any potential privacy
concerns. If a statistically valid sample can be developed, then it may
be possible to extrapolate for reporting and program evaluation
purposes. Such information may be used to support program evaluation.
DOT may also ask recipient businesses to identify how they
first learned about the AMJP program. Such information may be useful in
implementation of future financial assistance programs.
DOT has updated the following estimated public burden figures based
on the actual number of applications received as well as observations
during the application review process. In order to help reduce the
burden on recipients (and particularly on small businesses), DOT
decided to make an initial disbursement shortly after award of each
agreement. The initial disbursement is up to 50 percent of the award
amount. This provides the recipient businesses with an immediate cash
infusion, while also reducing the total number of disbursements and the
cumulative paperwork required. DOT announced this decision in the
application package published on June 15, 2021.
Respondents: Eligible business entities in the aviation
manufacturing, maintenance, repair, and overhaul services based in the
United States.
Number of Respondents: 600.
Frequency: Up to two disbursement requests and one final closeout
report (including supporting payroll documentation and reporting
requirements).
Total Annual Burden: Total burden, 16,800 hours (28 hours per
respondent including 4 hours for each of 2 disbursement requests; 14
hours for required forms; 2 hours for voluntary demographic data; and 4
hours for closeout documentation).
Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of
this information collection, including (a) whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the Department's
performance; (b) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for the
Department to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the
information collection; and (d) ways that the burden could be minimized
without reducing the quality of the collected information. The agency
will summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's
clearance of this information collection.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35, as amended.
Issued in Washington, DC, on September 16, 2021.
Brian Elliott Black,
Program Director, Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection (AMJP)
Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-20363 Filed 9-20-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P