Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 186 / Wednesday, September 27, 2023 / Notices 66547 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.24

Sherry R. Haywood, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–20962 Filed 9–26–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice: 12195] 

30-Day Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection: Welcome Corps 

Application 

ACTION: Notice of request for public 

comment and submission to OMB of 

proposed collection of information. 

SUMMARY: The Department of State has 

submitted the information collection 

described below to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

approval. In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we 

are requesting comments on this 

collection from all interested 

individuals and organizations. The 

purpose of this Notice is to allow 30 

days for public comment. 

DATES: Submit comments up to October 

27, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this information 

collection by selecting ‘‘Currently under 

30-day Review—Open for Public 

Comments’’ or by using the search 

function. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Direct requests for additional 

information regarding the collection 

listed in this notice, including requests 

for copies of the proposed collection 

instrument and supporting documents 

to Cassie Le, who may be reached on 

202–805–9291 or at LeCR@state.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

• Title of Information Collection: 

Welcome Corps Application. 

• OMB Control Number: 1405–0256. 

• Type of Request: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

• Originating Office: PRM/A. 

• Form Number: No form. 

• Respondents: Respondents: Private 

Sponsor Groups (PSGs), groups of at 

least five or more individual American 

citizens or permanent residents who 

will be able to apply to sponsor the 

resettlement of refugees, and Private 

Sponsor Organizations (PSOs), 

established and/or incorporated 

organizations who will be able to apply 

to mobilize, organize, oversee, and/or 

offer support to Private Sponsor Groups. 

• Estimated Number of Respondents: 

2,020. 

• Estimated Number of Responses: 

2,020. 

• Average Time per Response: 5.5 

hours. 

• Total Estimated Burden Time: 8,908 

hours total. 

• Frequency: Once per respondent. 

• Obligation to Respond: Voluntary. 

We are soliciting public comments to 

permit the Department to: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

information collection is necessary for 

the proper functions of the Department. 

• Evaluate the accuracy of our 

estimate of the time and cost burden for 

this proposed collection, including the 

validity of the methodology and 

assumptions used. 

• Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected. 

• Minimize the reporting burden on 

those who are to respond, including the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. 

Please note that comments submitted 

in response to this Notice are a public 

record. Before including any detailed 

personal information, you should be 

aware that your comments as submitted, 

including your personal information, 

will be available for public review. 

Abstract of Proposed Collection 

In Executive Order 14013 on 

‘‘Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs to 

Resettle Refugees and Planning for the 

Impact of Climate Change on Migration’’ 

issued in February 2021, President 

Biden directed the Department of State 

and Department of Health and Human 

Services to ‘‘capitalize on . . . private 

sponsorship of refugees’’ as part of 

efforts to ‘‘meet the challenges of 

restoring and expanding the [U.S. 

Refugee Admissions Program].’’ To 

fulfill this directive, the Department of 

State is rolling out a program for private 

sponsorship of refugees approved for 

admission to the United States through 

the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program 

(USRAP), named ‘‘the Welcome Corps.’’ 

Through the Welcome Corps 

application process, private sponsors 

accept primary responsibility to 

welcome arriving refugees and to 

provide core services/assistance to 

support their initial resettlement 

equivalent to what is provided by 

nonprofit resettlement agency partners 

through the U.S. Government-funded 

Reception and Placement (R&P) 

program. When private sponsors apply 

through the program, sponsors have the 

option to be matched with a refugee 

case already being processed through 

the USRAP or to refer specific 

individuals to access the USRAP 

through the P–4 Privately Sponsored 

Refugees category. The P–4 category, 

along with the other categories of cases 

that have access to the USRAP, is 

outlined in the annual Proposed 

Refugee Admissions—Report to 

Congress, which is submitted on behalf 

of the President in fulfillment of the 

requirements of section 207(d) of the 

Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

U.S.C. 1157) and authorized by the 

annual Presidential Determination for 

Refugee Admissions. 

Private sponsor entities include 

Private Sponsor Groups (groups of at 

least five or more individual American 

citizens or permanent residents who can 

apply to sponsor the resettlement of 

refugees) and Private Sponsor 

Organizations (established and/or 

incorporated organizations who can 

apply to mobilize, organize, oversee, 

and/or offer support to Private Sponsor 

Groups). 

As part of the Welcome Corps 

application process for private sponsors, 

biographic information is collected from 

Private Sponsor Groups (PSGs) and 

Private Sponsor Organizations (PSOs) to 

facilitate the placement of approved 

refugee applicants with private sponsors 

and to plan for refugee applicants to 

travel to the appropriate location of 

private sponsors within the United 

States. In instances where private 

sponsors are seeking to refer specific 

individuals to access the USRAP 

through the P–4 category, additional 

information is collected on refugee 

applicants, including biographic 

information, to assess whether refugee 

applicants meet the eligibility criteria to 

access the USRAP through the P–4 

category. The information collected on 

refugee applicants will also assist 

Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. 

Citizenship and Immigration Services 

(USCIS) officials in conducting 

adjudications of applicants’ refugee 

status. 

Methodology 

The Department of State’s Bureau of 

Population, Refugees, and Migration 

(PRM) has entered into a cooperative 

agreement with the Community 

Sponsorship Hub (CSH), which is 

managing a consortium of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to 

establish and oversee an online 

application process to intake 

applications from PSGs and PSOs and 

screen their applications for approval 

for participation in the Welcome Corps. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
66548 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 186 / Wednesday, September 27, 2023 / Notices 

1OSL initially filed its verified notice on August 

14, 2023. By order served September 8, 2023, the 

effective dates of the exemptions in this docket and 

in the related Docket No. FD 36716 were postponed 

pending further Board order to allow for further 

briefing and consideration of certain issues. On 

September 13, 2023, OSL filed an amended verified 

notice of exemption in Docket No. FD 36717 

addressing the issues raised in the September 8 

order. 

CSH and the NGO consortium it is 

managing will also screen referrals 

submitted by PSGs and PSOs of refugee 

applicants before sharing referrals with 

PRM for consideration of whether 

referred refugee applicants meet the 

eligibility criteria to be granted access to 

the USRAP through the P–4 category. 

As part of the online application 

process for PSGs, the NGO consortium 

will collect information on PSGs as part 

of completed applications submitted 

electronically by prospective private 

sponsors through the program website 

that is being built and managed by the 

consortium (www.welcomecorps.org). 

This will include biographic 

information on each member of the PSG, 

evidence that each member of the PSG 

has completed the required background 

checks through a third-party identified 

by the consortium, evidence that at least 

one member of the PSG has completed 

required online training developed by 

the consortium, and details on how 

PSGs will plan to provide initial 

resettlement support to the refugees 

who are matched to them through the 

Welcome Corps. 

In addition, the NGO consortium will 

also oversee a separate application 

process for PSOs and collect 

information from PSOs accordingly. 

This will include biographic 

information for a key point of contact at 

the PSO, background information on the 

organizational structure of the PSO, and 

information on the PSO’s organizational 

resources and staffing capacity to 

mobilize, support, and oversee PSGs. 

The NGO consortium will also collect 

information on refugee applicants 

referred by PSGs and PSOs for access to 

the USRAP through the P–4 category 

that will be submitted electronically by 

PSGs and PSOs through the program 

website. This will include biographic 

information on each refugee applicant 

being referred, claimed relationships of 

the principal refugee applicant to all 

derivatives on the referral, their 

immigration status in the country of 

asylum, a narrative of the principal 

applicant’s refugee claim, and 

supporting documentation. 

To support PRM’s operational 

requirements to facilitate placements of 

refugee cases with PSGs (including 

those supported by specific PSOs), the 

consortium will share key biographic 

information of PSGs and PSOs with 

PRM. This will include points of contact 

of PSGs and PSOs, such as the name of 

the designated point of contact along 

with that private sponsor group 

member’s address, phone number, email 

address, and other relevant contact 

information. Information collected by 

the NGO consortium on referred refugee 

applicants will also be shared with PRM 

to enable PRM to determine whether 

applicants meet the eligibility criteria 

for access to the USRAP through the P– 

4 category. 

The consortium will electronically 

transmit biographic information on 

PSGs and PSOs, along with information 

on refugee applicants, to PRM’s Refugee 

Processing Center (RPC) through secure 

means. Biographic information on PSGs 

and PSOs will enable PRM to facilitate 

the matching of approved refugee 

applicants with approved PSGs or PSOs 

and to track the placement of refugee 

applicants, similarly to how PRM 

facilitates and tracks placement of 

refugee applicants supported by PRM’s 

funded resettlement agency partners 

through the R&P Program. This will 

enable PRM to have a record of the 

relevant point of contact for each 

resettled refugee case supported by a 

PSG or PSO through the Welcome 

Corps. 

The information on refugee applicants 

will enable PRM to assess the eligibility 

of referred applicants to access the 

USRAP through the P–4 category. Those 

meeting the eligibility criteria will be 

granted access to the USRAP for further 

processing. Referred refugee applicants 

approved for resettlement in the United 

States will be served by the private 

sponsors who referred them. 

Kevin E. Bryant, 

Deputy Director, Office of Directives 

Management, U.S. Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2023–21042 Filed 9–26–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–33–P 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. FD 36717] 

OmniTRAX SBVR, LLC d/b/a South 

Branch Valley Railroad—Operation 

Exemption—Railroad Line of West 

Virginia State Rail Authority in 

Hampshire, Hardy, and Grant Counties, 

W. Va. 

OmniTRAX SBVR, LLC d/b/a South 

Branch Valley Railroad (OSL), a 

noncarrier controlled by short line 

holding company OmniTRAX Holdings 

Combined, Inc. (OmniTRAX), has filed 

a verified notice of exemption under 49 

CFR 1150.31 to assume operations over 

approximately 52.4 miles of rail line, 

extending from milepost 0.0 at Green 

Spring, W. Va., to milepost 52.4 at 

Petersburg, W. Va., located in 

Hampshire, Hardy, and Grant Counties, 

W. Va. (the Line).1

The Line is owned and currently 

operated by the West Virginia State Rail 

Authority (Rail Authority). OSL states 

that it has reached an agreement with 

the Rail Authority (Agreement) under 

which OSL will replace the Rail 

Authority as the operator on the Line. 

OSL states that the Rail Authority will 

retain ownership of, and a residual 

common carrier obligation over, the 

Line post-transaction. 

This transaction is related to the 

verified notice of exemption filed in 

OmniTRAX Holdings Combined, Inc.— 

Continuance in Control Exemption— 

OmniTRAX SBVR, LLC, Docket No. FD 

36716, in which OmniTRAX and HGS 

Railway Holdings, Inc., seek to continue 

in control of OSL upon OSL’s becoming 

a Class III rail carrier. 

OSL certifies that its projected annual 

revenues will not exceed $5 million and 

will not result in OSL’s becoming a 

Class I or Class II rail carrier. OSL 

further certifies that it is not 

contractually limited in its ability to 

interchange traffic with any third-party 

connecting carrier. 

The effective date of this exemption is 

October 11, 2023. If the verified notice 

contains false or misleading 

information, the exemption is void ab 

initio. Petitions to revoke the exemption 

under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed 

at any time. The filing of a petition to 

revoke will not automatically stay the 

effectiveness of the exemption. Petitions 

for stay must be filed no later than 

October 4, 2023 (at least seven days 

before the exemption becomes 

effective). 

All pleadings, referring to Docket No. 

FD 36717, must be filed with the 

Surface Transportation Board either via 

e-filing on the Board’s website or in 

writing addressed to 395 E Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20423–0001. In 

addition, a copy of each pleading must 

be served on OSL’s representative, 

Robert A. Wimbish, Fletcher & Sippel 

LLC, 29 North Wacker Drive, Suite 800, 

Chicago, IL 60606–3208. 

According to OSL, this action is 

categorically excluded from 

environmental review under 49 CFR 

1105.6(c)(2), and from historic 

preservation reporting requirements 

under 49 CFR 1105.8(b)(1). 

Board decisions and notices are 

available at www.stb.gov. 

Decided: September 21, 2023. 


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