73280 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 237 / Wednesday, December 10, 2014 / Notices 

Dated: December 5, 2014. 

Andrew Hirshfeld, 

Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination 

Policy, United States Patent and Trademark 

Office. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28951 Filed 12–9–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–16–P 

CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND 

COMMUNITY SERVICE 

Revision of Information Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Corporation for National and 

Community Service. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Corporation for National 

and Community Service (CNCS), as part 

of its continuing effort to reduce 

paperwork and respondent burden, 

conducts a pre-clearance 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 

(PRA95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). 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 

requirement on respondents can be 

properly assessed. 

Currently, CNCS is soliciting 

comments concerning proposed revision 

of its Senior Corps Grant Application 

(424–NSSC) (OMB Control Number 

3045–0035). The Grant Application is 

used by the Foster Grandparent, Senior 

Companion, and RSVP programs. CNCS 

proposes the following modifications to 

increase both the flexibility and the 

utility of the Senior Corps Grant 

Application so that it can serve as the 

source instructional document for data 

fields required to complete and submit 

an application for funding. Currently, 

the Grant Application contains two 

types of information needed by 

applicants: Instructional or ‘‘how-to’’ 

information and narrative questions and 

other content. While the instructions 

rarely change from year to year, the 

narrative questions and performance 

measures content can and do change 

annually, resulting in an ongoing need 

for Grant Application revisions for the 

upcoming year or competition. With 

this proposed change, CNCS will use 

the Senior Corps Grant Application 

exclusively to define data fields and 

describe how to enter the required data 

and information in each field. The Grant 

Application will not contain the content 

questions. The proposed change will be 

achieved by: (1) Removing and 

relocating narrative questions and other 

content materials from the Grant 

Application to applicable competitive 

Notices of Funding Opportunity and/or 

non-competitive Notices of Invitation to 

Apply for grant funds; (2) Removing 

performance measures requirements 

from the Grant Application and 

referring applicants to the OMB 

approved Performance Measures 

Requirements documents for the Senior 

Corps programs; and (3) replacing all 

existing Grant Application instructions 

with step-by-step eGrants instructions 

correlated to the Grant Application 

screens in eGrants. 

With these changes, applicants for 

Senior Corps grants can use a set of 

interrelated and readily available 

documents to complete the Grant 

Application. 

The proposed revisions do not change 

the estimated respondent burden. 

The proposed revisions do not change 

the data fields or data collected with the 

Senior Corps Grant Application. 

Copies of the information collection 

request can be obtained by contacting 

the office listed in the addresses section 

of this Notice. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted to the individual and office 

listed in the ADDRESSES section by 

February 9, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by the title of the information 

collection activity, by any of the 

following methods: 

(1) By mail sent to: Corporation for 

National and Community Service, 

Senior Corps, Attention: Ms. Angela 

Roberts, Associate Director, 9401; 1201 

New York Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20525. 

(2) By hand delivery or by courier to 

the CNCS mailroom at Room 8100 at the 

mail address given in paragraph (1) 

above, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

(3) By fax to: (202) 606–3475, 

Attention: Ms. Angela Roberts, 

Associate Director. 

(4) Electronically through 

www.regulations.gov. Individuals who 

use a telecommunications device for the 

deaf (TTY–TDD) may call (202) 606– 

3472 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. 

Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Angela Roberts by email at 

aroberts@cns.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CNCS is 

particularly interested in comments 

that: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of CNCS, including whether 

the information will have practical 

utility; 

• Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

• Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

• Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are expected to respond, including the 

use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology 

(e.g., permitting electronic submissions 

of responses). 

Background 

The Senior Corps Grant Application is 

completed by applicant organizations 

interested in sponsoring a Senior Corps 

program. The grant application is also 

used by existing grantees to apply for 

continuation year grants (annual 

submissions in years two and three of a 

three year grant). The grant application 

is completed electronically using the 

CNCS web-based grants management 

system, eGrants. 

Current Action 

CNCS seeks to revise the current 

application with modifications. The 

proposed revisions do not change the 

estimated respondent burden. The 

information collection will otherwise be 

used for the same purpose as the 

existing application. CNCS also seeks to 

continue using the current application 

until the revised application is 

approved by OMB. The current 

application is due to expire on 

September 30, 2015. 

Type of Review: Revision. 

Agency: Corporation for National and 

Community Service. 

Title: National Senior Service Corps 

Grant Application. 

OMB Number: 3045–0035. 

Agency Number: SF 424–NSSC. 

Affected Public: Current and 

prospective sponsors of National Senior 

Service Corps Grants. 

Total Respondents: 1,350. 

Frequency: Annually, with 

exceptions. 

Average Time per Response: 

Estimated at 13.2 hours each. 

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 17,820 

hours. 

Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): 

None. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 237 / Wednesday, December 10, 2014 / Notices 73281 

Total Burden Cost (operating/ 

maintenance): None. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for Office of 

Management and Budget approval of the 

information collection request; they will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Dated: December 4, 2014. 

Erwin Tan, 

Director, Senior Corps. 

[FR Doc. 2014–28900 Filed 12–9–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6050–$$–P 

CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND 

COMMUNITY SERVICE 

Information Collection; Submission for 

OMB Review, Comment Request 

AGENCY: Corporation for National and 

Community Service. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Corporation for National 

and Community Service (CNCS) has 

submitted a public information 

collection request (ICR) entitled 

AmeriCorps Member Exit Questionnaire 

for review and approval in accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995, Public Law 104–13, (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35). Copies of this ICR, with 

applicable supporting documentation, 

may be obtained by calling the 

Corporation for National and 

Community Service, Diana Epstein at 

202–606–7564 or email to depstein@

cns.gov. Individuals who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TTY–TDD) may call 1–800–833–3722 

between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Eastern 

Time, Monday through Friday. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted, identified by the title of the 

information collection activity, to the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Attn: Ms. Sharon Mar, OMB 

Desk Officer for the Corporation for 

National and Community Service, by 

any of the following two methods 

within 30 days from the date of 

publication in the Federal Register: 

(1) By fax to: 202–395–6974, 

Attention: Ms. Sharon Mar, OMB Desk 

Officer for the Corporation for National 

and Community Service; or 

(2) By email to: smar@omb.eop.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The OMB 

is particularly interested in comments 

which: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of CNCS, including whether 

the information will have practical 

utility; 

• Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

• Propose ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and 

• Propose ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on those who are to respond, including 

through the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

Comments 

A 60-day Notice requesting public 

comment was published in the Federal 

Register on September 17, 2014. This 

comment period ended November 17, 

2014. Two public comments were 

received from this Notice. 

One commenter suggested engaging 

state service commissions in the survey 

planning process to avoid duplicating 

efforts to collect member experience 

data. CNCS engages state service 

commissions on a regular basis. 

The second commenter offered the 

following suggestions. 

Survey Question 3a. Public comment: 

Recommend spelling out the acronyms 

PSO and CTI. CNCS response: This 

change was discussed with our working 

group and with pilot respondents 

participating in cognitive interviewing, 

but was found not to be needed. 

Respondents to whom the acronyms did 

not apply simply ignored them. 

Survey Questions 5a, 5b, and 5c. 

Public comment: Is it truly the 

frequency that you’re interested in or 

whether or not the program provided 

them with the knowledge, skills and 

abilities to perform those activities? 

CNCS response: Though we certainly 

are interested in whether programs are 

providing members with the training 

and opportunities needed to develop 

these skills, we chose to assess 

frequency of skill usage 

Survey Question 6. Public comment: 

Item a, when referencing co-worker are 

you referring to a fellow AmeriCorps 

member or other employees at the 

service location? CNCS response: Coworker could refer to any individual in 

a service or workplace setting. 

Survey Question 7. Public comment: 

Do you want the respondent to answer 

this based on their AmeriCorps 

experience or in general? May want to 

have a lead-in clause similar to question 

8. CNCS response: Answers to this 

survey should be based on the member’s 

AmeriCorps experience. 

Question 11: Public comment. 

Although the question specifically 

references discussions with friends and 

family, a member may believe some of 

the selections within this question are 

leading them to answer about potential 

involvement in prohibited activities. 

If trying to assess whether or not 

AmeriCorps has led them to be more 

civically engaged in the last 12 months, 

might want to rephrase the introduction 

statement/question. CNCS response: We 

have eliminated all questions 

referencing potentially prohibited 

activities. 

Question 18. Public comment: Item c, 

may want to add a few examples or a 

national nonprofit (e.g., Red Cross, City 

Year, etc.) or change language to ask 

about affiliation with the legal applicant 

as not all program operators are 

nonprofits. CNCS response: Since we 

did not uncover confusion in our 

cognitive interviews or qualitative 

analysis, we decided not to add 

examples. 

Question 19. Public comment: Is it 

beneficial to add a selection for VISTA 

members that elect to receive the cash 

stipend in lieu of an education award? 

CNCS response: Based on feedback from 

our cognitive interviews, this response 

option has been added. 

Public comment: The commenter also 

wondered if CNCS was interested in 

knowing about how members’ benefits 

(e.g. childcare or healthcare coverage) 

impacted the service experience or 

satisfaction. CNCS response: This was 

not indicated as an area of interest by 

the working group or other internal 

stakeholders, so no questions related to 

benefits will be included in this survey. 

It is possible that future projects or 

survey supplements could ask about the 

impact of member benefits. Public 

comment: The commenter also 

suggested that we include a question 

that could identify the specific states 

where members served, for use in 

reporting findings for state offices and 

commissions. CNCS response: Rather 

than include another question in the 

survey, we are exploring mechanisms to 

connect exit survey data to existing data 

on member service locations. 

Description: CNCS is seeking 

approval of AmeriCorps Member Exit 

Questionnaire, CNCS seeks to renew the 

current information collection. The 

questionnaire submitted for clearance is 

a combination of new and existing 

content from the previously cleared exit 

questionnaire. The new content reflects 

changing agency and program priorities. 

In addition, some approved questions 

have been edited to make them easier to 

understand and to provide more useful 

information for programs. The new 

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