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[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 17, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22762-22763]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9164]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; State Broadband 
Data and Development Grant Program Progress Report

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the 
proposed revision and/or continuing information collections, as 
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before June 18, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via email to 
[email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instruments and instructions 
should be directed to Anne Neville, Director, State Broadband 
Initiative, Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration, 14th and Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20230 (or via email at [email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Section 6001 (l) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 
2009 (Recovery Act), Public Law 111-5 (2009), required the Assistant 
Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information (Assistant 
Secretary) to develop and maintain a comprehensive, interactive, and 
searchable nationwide inventory map of existing broadband service 
capability and availability in the United States that depicts the 
geographic extent to which broadband service capability is deployed and 
available from a commercial or public provider throughout each state. 
(Recovery Act section 6001(l), 123 Stat. at 516). The statue further 
provided that the Assistant Secretary would make the national broadband 
map accessible by the public on a National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration (NTIA) Web site no later than February 17, 
2011.
    On July 8, 2009, NTIA issued the Notice of Funds Availability 
(NOFA) and Solicitation of Applications setting forth the requirements 
for the State Broadband Data and Development (SBDD) Grant Program 
(NOFA, 74 FR 32545, July 8, 2009), a competitive, merit-based matching 
grant program funding projects that collect comprehensive and accurate 
State-level broadband mapping data, develop State-level broadband maps, 
aid in the development and maintenance of a national broadband map, and 
fund statewide initiatives directed at broadband planning and capacity 
building.
    The NOFA requires grantees to submit regular reports to NTIA. 
Specifically it states:

    ``All grantees under this Program will provide quarterly reports 
on:
    (a) Achievement of project goals, objectives, and milestones 
(e.g., collection of a ``substantially complete data set''; 
completion of data review or quality control process) as set forth 
by the applicant in their application timeline;
    i. expenditure of grant funds and how much of the award remains;
    ii. Amount of non-federal case or in-kind investment that is 
being added to complete the project; and
    iii. whether the grantee is on schedule to provide broadband-
related data in accordance with the mapping project timeline.'' See 
74 FR 32556 (July 8, 2009).

    NTIA requires these quarterly Performance Progress Reports (PPRs) 
in order to gauge the progress of grantees in meeting their project 
goals. Without such formal reporting, NTIA is unable to effectively 
monitor the expenditure of these Recovery Act funds. While grantees are 
also required to submit Recovery Act reports, these reports do not 
include vital details that NTIA needs in order to provide proper 
oversight of activities.
    After reviewing recent PPRs, NTIA has identified a need to revise 
its existing PPR format by changing existing questions and adding new 
questions to improve clarity, reduce the frequency with which some 
information is reported, and delete certain items that are not 
necessary for effective performance monitoring. The revisions will 
improve the quality of recipients' responses and enable NTIA to better 
monitor and assess the extent to which the recipients are meeting 
program goals

[[Page 22763]]

and milestones. NTIA has assessed that the revisions will not change 
the estimated response time on grantees.

II. Method of Collection

    NTIA will continue to require grantees to submit their reports 
using the existing Post-Award Monitoring (PAM) System.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0660-0034.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Regular submission (revision of a currently 
approved information collection).
    Affected Public: State governments and not-for-profit institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 56.
    Estimated Time per Response: 4 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 896.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the revised collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the revised proposed collection of 
information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the monitoring information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: April 12, 2012.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-9164 Filed 4-16-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P
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