11544 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 36 / Thursday, February 25, 2021 / Notices 

the states. Information on practices 

gathered in this survey will 

complement, but will not duplicate, 

these policy profiles. 

Finally, the National Adult Protective 

Services Association (NAPSA) 

conducted a survey of State APS 

programs in 2012, and the National 

Association of State Units on Aging and 

Disability (NASUAD) fielded a survey to 

its members, which are not APS 

programs, in January 2018 intended to 

update findings from the NAPSA 2012 

survey. Since the survey replicates the 

original NAPSA survey, the questions in 

it are not focused on APS practice and 

are not directed at the same respondents 

as the proposed survey. As noted, a few 

topics in the original survey overlap 

with the proposed instrument, but the 

wording and focus of the few questions 

on similar topics are different. From this 

analysis, we conclude the proposed APS 

Practice Survey will yield vital 

information on APS practice not 

available from other sources. 

Proposed Collection Efforts 

The APS Practice Survey will collect 

state- and territory-specific practices for 

all aspects of APS casework practice, 

including staffing, intake, investigation, 

service planning and delivery, and 

quality assurance. Across these areas, 

the survey will collect information on 

practices such as community 

partnerships and use of assessment 

tools. 

The APS Practice Survey will be 

administered online using 

SurveyMonkey or a similar commercial 

survey-programming tool. The online 

survey will include data validation 

routines to minimize errors or 

unintentional omissions and will 

include appropriate skip patterns to 

reduce burden. Respondents will be 

state and territory APS agencies, 

including APS agencies in the District of 

Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern 

Marianas Islands, Virgin Islands, and 

American Samoa. No personally 

identifiable information will be 

collected. 

A pilot version of The APS Practice 

Survey was tested in nine (9) diverse 

states between July and September 

2017. Following their pretest of the 

survey instrument, pilot respondents 

participated in focus groups in which 

they provided recommendations on data 

collection procedures, views on the 

availability of data being requested, and 

estimates of the burden to each state and 

territory for completion of the survey. It 

is assumed that nearly every state and 

territory will participate and that time to 

develop a response will be similar to the 

experience of states during the pilot test. 

ACL has calculated the following 

burden estimates based on the results of 

the survey pilot test. 

Comments in Response to the 60-Day 

Federal Register Notice 

A notice published in the Federal 

Register on December 1, 2020 in 85 FR 

77218. 

Estimated Program Burden: ACL 

estimates the annual burden associated 

with this collection of information as 

follows: 

Instrument Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Average 

burden hours 

per response 

Total 

burden 

hours 

APS Practice Survey ....................................................................................... 56 1 3.50 196 

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours ..................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 196 

Dated: February 19, 2021. 

Alison Barkoff, 

Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary 

for Aging. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03863 Filed 2–24–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4154–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Administration for Community Living 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Submission for OMB 

Review; Public Comment Request; 

Independent Living Services (ILS) 

Program Performance Report (PPR) 

0985–0043 

AGENCY: Administration for Community 

Living, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Administration for 

Community Living (ACL) is announcing 

that the proposed collection of 

information listed above has been 

submitted to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for review and 

clearance as required under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This 

30-Day notice collects comments on the 

information collection requirements 

related to the Independent Living 

Services (ILS) Program Performance 

Report (PPR) 0985–0043. 

DATES: Submit written comments on the 

collection of information by 11:59 p.m. 

(EST) or postmarked by March 29, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

on the collection of information by: 

(a) Email to: OIRA_submission@

omb.eop.gov, Attn: OMB Desk Officer 

for ACL; 

(b) fax to 202.395.5806, Attn: OMB 

Desk Officer for ACL; or 

(c) by mail to the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

OMB, New Executive Office Bldg., 725 

17th St. NW, Rm. 10235, Washington, 

DC 20503, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for 

ACL. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Peter Nye at OILPPRAComments@

acl.hhs.gov. Administration for 

Community Living, Washington, DC 

20201, Attention: Peter Nye Phone: 

(202) 795–7606. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

compliance with 44 U.S.C. 3507, ACL 

has submitted the following proposed 

collection of information to OMB for 

review and clearance. 

The Independent Living Services 

(ILS) program provides financial 

assistance, through formula grants, to 

states, the District of Columbia, Puerto 

Rico, American Samoa, the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands, Guam, and the US Virgin 

Islands for expanding, and improving 

the provision of, independent living (IL) 

services. The Designated State Entity 

(DSE) is the agency that, on behalf of the 

state, receives, accounts for, and 

disburses funds received under Part B of 

the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as 

amended (the Act). Funds are also made 

available for the provision of training 

and technical assistance to Statewide 

Independent Living Councils (SILCs). 

The Act permits an annual program 

performance report (PPR). 

This request is for the ILS PPR, which 

is submitted annually by the SILC and 

DSE in every state, territory, and 

commonwealth. ACL uses the ILS PPR 

to assess grantee compliance with title 

VII of the Act, with 45 CFR part 1329 

of the Code of Federal Regulations, and 

with applicable provisions of the HHS 

Regulations at 45 CFR part 75. The ILS 

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 36 / Thursday, February 25, 2021 / Notices 11545 

PPR serves as the primary basis for 

ACL’s monitoring activities in 

fulfillment of its responsibilities under 

sections 706 and 722 of the Act. ACL 

also uses the PPR to identify training 

and technical assistance needs for SILCs 

and centers for independent living. 

To view the data collection activity 

for this information collection request, 

please visit the ACL public input 

website: https://www.acl.gov/about-acl/ 

public-input. 

Comments in Response to the 60-Day 

Federal Register Notice 

ACL published a 60-day Federal 

Register Notice in the Federal Register 

soliciting public comments on this 

request. The 60-day FRN published on 

December 17, 2020, Volume 85, pages 

81924–81925; ACL received no 

comments. 

Estimated Program Burden 

ACL estimates the burden of this 

collection of information as follows: 

Fifty-six jurisdictions—specifically, the 

fifty states, Puerto Rico, the District of 

Columbia, American Samoa, the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands, Guam, and the US Virgin 

Islands—will each complete ILS PPRs 

annually, and it will take an estimated 

thirty-five hours per jurisdiction per ILS 

PPR. Each jurisdiction’s SILC and DSE 

will collaborate to complete the ILS 

PPR. The fifty-six jurisdictions, 

combined, will take an estimated 1,960 

hours per year to complete ILS PPRs. 

This burden estimate is based on what 

DSEs and SILCs have told ACL about 

how long filling out ILS PPRs took in 

previous reporting years. 

Respondent/data collection activity Number of 

respondents 

Responses 

per 

respondent 

Hours per 

response 

Total annual 

burden hours 

SILCs and DSEs .............................................................................................. 56 1 35 1,960 

Dated: February 19, 2021. 

Alison Barkoff, 

Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary 

for Aging. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03864 Filed 2–24–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4154–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Administration for Community Living 

[OMB N0. 0985–0048] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection; Public 

Comment Request; State Grants for 

Assistive Technology Program State 

Plan for Assistive Technology 

AGENCY: Administration for Community 

Living, HHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Administration for 

Community Living (ACL) is announcing 

an opportunity for the public to 

comment on the proposed collection of 

information listed above. Under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the 

PRA), Federal agencies are required to 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

concerning each proposed collection of 

information, including each proposed 

renewal of an existing collection of 

information, and to allow 60 days for 

public comment in response to the 

notice. This notice solicits comments on 

the Proposed Extension without Change 

on the information collection 

requirements related to the State Grants 

for Assistive Technology Program State 

Plan for AT. 

DATES: Comments on the collection of 

information must be submitted 

electronically by 11:59 p.m. (EST) or 

postmarked by April 26, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Submit electronic 

comments on the collection of 

information to: Robert Groenendaal, 

Robert.Groenendaal@acl.hhs.gov. 

Submit written comments on the 

collection of information to the 

Administration for Community Living 

330 C Street SW, Washington, DC 

20201. Attention: Robert Groenendaal. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert Groenendaal, Assistive 

Technology Program Manager, Center 

for Innovation and Partnership in the 

Office of Interagency Innovation 

Administration for Community Living 

330 C Street SW, Washington, DC 

20201, Phone: 202–795–7356, Email: 

Robert.Groenendaal@acl.hhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

PRA, Federal agencies must obtain 

approval from the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for each collection of 

information they conduct or sponsor. 

‘‘Collection of information,’’ is defined 

as and includes agency requests or 

requirements that members of the public 

submit reports, keep records, or provide 

information to a third party. 

The PRA requires Federal agencies to 

provide a 60-day notice in the Federal 

Register concerning each proposed 

collection of information, including 

each proposed extension of an existing 

collection of information, before 

submitting the collection to OMB for 

approval. To comply with this 

requirement, ACL is publishing a notice 

of the proposed collection of 

information set forth in this document. 

With respect to the following 

collection of information, ACL invites 

comments on our burden estimates or 

any other aspect of this collection of 

information, including: 

(1) Whether the proposed collection 

of information is necessary for the 

proper performance of ACL’s functions, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; 

(2) the accuracy of ACL’s estimate of 

the burden of the proposed collection of 

information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used 

to determine burden estimates; 

(3) ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and 

(4) ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on 

respondents, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques 

when appropriate, and other forms of 

information technology. 

The information collected through 

this data collection instrument is 

necessary for ACL and states to comply 

with Sections 4 and 7 of the Assistive 

Technology Act of 1998, as amended 

(AT Act). ACL is requesting a revision 

of the state plan data collection 

instrument (OMB No. 0985–0048). 

Approval of 0985–0048 expires March 

31, 2021. 

Section 4 of the AT Act authorizes 

grants to public agencies in the 50 states 

and the District of Columbia, Puerto 

Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, 

American Samoa, and the 

Commonwealth of the Northern 

Marianas (states and outlying areas). 

With these funds, the 56 states and 

outlying areas operate ‘‘Statewide AT 

Programs’’ that conduct activities to 

increase access to and acquisition of 

assistive technology (AT) for 

individuals with disabilities and older 

Americans.