20042 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 64 / Tuesday, April 3, 2012 / Notices 

If a student has been approved for 

employment authorization under TPS, 

how does he or she apply for 

authorization to take a reduced course 

load under this notice? 

There is no further application 

process. The student only needs to 

demonstrate economic hardship caused 

by the March 1, 2011 civil unrest in 

Syria to his or her DSO and receive the 

DSO recommendation in SEVIS. No 

other EAD will be issued. 

Can a student who has been granted 

TPS, and has allowed his or her F–1 

status to lapse, apply for reinstatement 

to F–1 student status? 

Yes. Current regulations permit a 

student who falls out of student status 

to apply for reinstatement. See 8 CFR 

214.2(f)(16). For example, this provision 

would apply to a student who worked 

on a TPS-related EAD or dropped his or 

her course load before publication of 

this notice, and therefore fell out of 

student status. The student must satisfy 

the criteria set forth in the student status 

reinstatement regulations. 

How long will this notice remain in 

effect? 

This notice grants temporary relief 

until October 3, 2013 to a specific group 

of F–1 students whose country of 

citizenship is Syria. DHS will continue 

to monitor the situation in Syria. Should 

the special provisions authorized by this 

notice need to be modified or extended, 

DHS will announce such changes in the 

Federal Register. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

An F–1 student seeking off-campus 

employment authorization due to severe 

economic hardship must demonstrate to 

the DSO at the school where he or she 

is enrolled that this employment is 

necessary to avoid severe economic 

hardship. If the DSO agrees that the 

student should receive such 

employment authorization, he or she 

must recommend application approval 

to USCIS by entering information in the 

remarks field of the student’s SEVIS 

record. The authority to collect this 

information is currently contained in 

the SEVIS collection of information 

currently approved by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) under 

OMB Control Number 1653–0038. 

This notice also allows F–1 students 

whose country of citizenship is Syria 

and who are experiencing severe 

economic hardship as a direct result of 

civil unrest in Syria since March 1, 

2011, to obtain employment 

authorization, work an increased 

number of hours while school is in 

session, and reduce their course load, 

while continuing to maintain their F–1 

student status. 

To apply for work authorization an F– 

1 student must complete and submit 

currently approved Form I–765 

according to the instructions on the 

form. The authority to collect the 

information contained on the current 

Form I–765 has previously been 

approved by OMB under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA) under OMB 

Control No. 1615–0040. Although there 

will be a slight increase in the number 

of Form I–765 filings because of this 

notice, the number of filings currently 

contained in the OMB annual inventory 

for Form I–765 is sufficient to cover the 

additional filings. Accordingly, there is 

no further action required under the 

PRA. 

Janet Napolitano, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7960 Filed 4–2–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency 

[Internal Agency Docket No. FEMA–4061– 

DR; Docket ID FEMA–2012–0002] 

West Virginia; Major Disaster and 

Related Determinations 

AGENCY: Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This is a notice of the 

Presidential declaration of a major 

disaster for the State of West Virginia 

(FEMA–4061–DR), dated March 22, 

2012, and related determinations. 

DATES: Effective Date: March 22, 2012. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Peggy Miller, Office of Response and 

Recovery, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, 500 C Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20472, (202) 646–3886. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is 

hereby given that, in a letter dated 

March 22, 2012, the President issued a 

major disaster declaration under the 

authority of the Robert T. Stafford 

Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq. 

(the ‘‘Stafford Act’’), as follows: 

I have determined that the damage in 

certain areas of the State of West Virginia 

resulting from severe storms, flooding, 

mudslides, and landslides beginning on 

March 15, 2012, and continuing, is of 

sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant 

a major disaster declaration under the Robert 

T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq. (the 

‘‘Stafford Act’’). Therefore, I declare that such 

a major disaster exists in the State of West 

Virginia. 

In order to provide Federal assistance, you 

are hereby authorized to allocate from funds 

available for these purposes such amounts as 

you find necessary for Federal disaster 

assistance and administrative expenses. 

You are authorized to provide Individual 

Assistance and Public Assistance in the 

designated areas and Hazard Mitigation 

throughout the State. Consistent with the 

requirement that Federal assistance is 

supplemental, any Federal funds provided 

under the Stafford Act for Public Assistance, 

Hazard Mitigation, and Other Needs 

Assistance will be limited to 75 percent of 

the total eligible costs. 

Further, you are authorized to make 

changes to this declaration for the approved 

assistance to the extent allowable under the 

Stafford Act. 

The time period prescribed for the 

implementation of section 310(a), 

Priority to Certain Applications for 

Public Facility and Public Housing 

Assistance, 42 U.S.C. 5153, shall be for 

a period not to exceed six months after 

the date of this declaration. 

The Federal Emergency Management 

Agency (FEMA) hereby gives notice that 

pursuant to the authority vested in the 

Administrator, under Executive Order 

12148, as amended, Deanne Criswell, of 

FEMA is appointed to act as the Federal 

Coordinating Officer for this major 

disaster. 

The following areas of the State of 

West Virginia have been designated as 

adversely affected by this major disaster: 

Logan County for Individual Assistance. 

Lincoln, Logan, and Mingo Counties for 

Public Assistance. 

All counties within the State of West 

Virginia are eligible to apply for assistance 

under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. 

The following Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance Numbers (CFDA) are to be used 

for reporting and drawing funds: 97.030, 

Community Disaster Loans; 97.031, Cora 

Brown Fund; 97.032, Crisis Counseling; 

97.033, Disaster Legal Services; 97.034, 

Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA); 

97.046, Fire Management Assistance Grant; 

97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to 

Individuals and Households In Presidentially 

Declared Disaster Areas; 97.049, 

Presidentially Declared Disaster Assistance— 

Disaster Housing Operations for Individuals 

and Households; 97.050, Presidentially 

Declared Disaster Assistance to Individuals 

and Households—Other Needs; 97.036, 

Disaster Grants—Public Assistance 

(Presidentially Declared Disasters); 97.039, 

Hazard Mitigation Grant. 

W. Craig Fugate, 

Administrator, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7930 Filed 4–2–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–23–P 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES