### 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.


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

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 theservice 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