Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 223 / Wednesday, November 19, 2014 / Notices 68899 

1The Public Assistance program is authorized by 

the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 

5170a, 5170b, 5172, 5173, 5192. 

2See 42 U.S.C. 5189; 44 CFR 206.203(c), 206.205. 

FEMA obligates money for a small project based on 

an estimate of the project cost; FEMA obligates 

money for a large project based on actual project 

costs as the project progresses and cost 

documentation is provided to FEMA. See 44 CFR 

206.203(c); Public Assistance Guide, FEMA 322 

(June 2007), Chapter 3, ‘‘Applying for Public 

Assistance,’’ ‘‘Project Formulation’’ available at 

http://www.fema.gov/public-assistance-local-statetribal-and-non-profit/public-assistance-guide-3. 

3Public Law 113–2, section 1107, codified in 

relevant part at 42 U.S.C. 5189. 

4Both the Report to Congress and the Final Rule 

are included in the docket for this Notice on 

www.regulations.gov under Docket ID FEMA–2014– 

0009. A copy of the report is also available at 

http://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/

documents/90458. 

5See 79 FR 10685 (Feb. 26, 2014). 6See id. 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Federal Emergency Management 

Agency 

[Docket ID FEMA–2014–0009] 

Simplified Procedures Project 

Thresholds for the Public Assistance 

Program 

AGENCY: Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: On February 26, 2014, the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) published a final rule (79 FR 

10685) revising the monetary thresholds 

for when FEMA will process an 

application using simplified procedures 

under its Public Assistance Program. 

FEMA based the revised thresholds on 

an analysis it completed pursuant to the 

Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 

2013. The findings of the analysis were 

submitted in a Report to Congress on 

January 29, 2014. FEMA is seeking 

comment on the findings in this Report 

to inform any future revisions to the 

project thresholds. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

January 20, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Comments must be 

identified by docket ID FEMA–2014– 

0009 and may be submitted by one of 

the following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Mail: Regulatory Affairs Division, 

Office of Chief Counsel, Federal 

Emergency Management Agency, Room 

8NE, 500 C Street SW., Washington, DC 

20472–3100. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liza 

Davis, Associate Chief Counsel, 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of Chief 

Counsel, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, 500 C Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20472, 202–646–4046, 

liza.davis@fema.dhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket ID. Regardless of the method 

used for submitting comments or 

material, all submissions will be posted, 

without change, to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov, and will include 

any personal information you provide. 

Therefore, submitting this information 

makes it public. You may wish to read 

the Privacy Act notice, which can be 

viewed by clicking on the ‘‘Privacy 

Notice’’ link in the footer of 

www.regulations.gov. 

You may submit your comments and 

material by the methods specified in the 

ADDRESSES section of this Notice. Please 

submit your comments and any 

supporting material by only one means 

to avoid the receipt and review of 

duplicate submissions. 

Docket: The Report to Congress and 

the final rule are available in docket ID 

FEMA–2014–0009. For access to the 

docket to read background documents 

or comments received, go to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov and search for the 

docket ID. Submitted comments may 

also be inspected at FEMA, Office of 

Chief Counsel, Room 8NE, 500 C Street 

SW., Washington, DC 20472. 

II. Background 

FEMA’s Public Assistance program 

provides grants to State, Tribal, and 

local governments, as well as eligible 

private nonprofit organizations, for 

debris removal, emergency protective 

measures, and the repair, replacement, 

or restoration of disaster-damaged 

facilities after a Presidentially-declared 

emergency or major disaster.1 Each 

grant award is categorized as either a 

large or small project, which is 

determined by a monetary threshold set 

each year by FEMA pursuant to statute.2

The Sandy Recovery Improvement Act 

of 2013 (SRIA) 3 required FEMA to 

analyze the thresholds, and, based on its 

findings, to implement new thresholds 

immediately. FEMA submitted a Report 

to Congress, ‘‘Determination of the 

Public Assistance Simplified Procedures 

Thresholds,’’ on January 29, 2014.4 The 

report included a summary of FEMA’s 

analysis and findings. FEMA 

implemented the new thresholds based 

on those findings on February 26, 2014 

via a final rule.5 FEMA raised the 

maximum threshold from $68,500 to 

$120,000; all projects below this amount 

are categorized as small projects, and all 

projects at or above this amount are 

categorized as large projects. FEMA 

raised the minimum threshold from 

$1,000 to $3,000.6 Both the maximum 

and minimum threshold will be 

adjusted annually to reflect changes in 

the Consumer Price Index for All Urban 

Consumers (CPI) published by the U.S. 

Department of Labor. 

FEMA is seeking comment on the 

findings that are included in its Report 

to Congress, ‘‘Determination on the 

Public Assistance Simplified Procedures 

Thresholds,’’ to inform possible future 

revisions to the maximum and 

minimum thresholds. 

III. Public Comment 

FEMA welcomes comments on all 

aspects of the report. In general, FEMA 

expects that comments will be most 

useful if accompanied by supportive 

data and a recommendation for future 

action. FEMA is particularly interested 

in responses to the following questions: 

1. How will the revised thresholds 

impact your State, Tribe, jurisdiction, or 

community? For example, please 

consider how the revised thresholds 

might impact the administrative costs of 

processing grants, the timeliness of 

receiving recovery funds, and the ability 

to ensure proper use of Public 

Assistance grant funding. Please provide 

data to support your statement, if 

available. 

If available please provide input on 

the following: 

a. How does the process to administer 

and close out Public Assistance grants 

vary between large and small projects in 

your State, Tribe, and/or local 

jurisdiction? (i.e., for both large and 

small projects, how does your State, 

Tribe, and/or local jurisdiction manage 

grants, disburse funds, conduct final 

projects inspections, verify the 

completion of the proposed scope of 

work, close out the projects, or require 

any other procedures for closing out a 

project)? 

b. For large projects, how much time 

is typically spent per request for 

disbursement of additional funds based 

on completed work? 

c. Since small project grants can be 

awarded based on the estimates, will the 

increase in the maximum threshold save 

time for subgrantees and grantees? If so, 

will this time be saved from: 

i. Reducing requests for additional 

funds for large projects as work 

progresses? 

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68900 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 223 / Wednesday, November 19, 2014 / Notices 

ii. The need to track and reconcile 

actual costs? 

iii. Other savings? 

d. Does your State, Tribe, or 

jurisdiction reconcile actual costs for 

both small and large projects regardless 

of Federal requirements? 

e. What is the average amount of time 

spent on reconciling (if applicable and 

assuming the subgrantee is not 

requesting a net small project overrun) 

and closing a project, considering 

project amounts near the previous and 

current maximum thresholds, for 

example: 

i. Between $40,000 and $68,500? 

ii. Between $68,500 and $120,000? 

iii. Between $120,000 and $200,000? 

f. Will there be a reduction in the 

number of final site inspections for 

projects between $68,500 and $120,000? 

g. What is the average amount of time 

spent on a final site inspection for a 

project between $68,500 and $120,000? 

h. If the increased maximum 

threshold would decrease the number of 

final site inspections, will that create 

grantee and/or subgrantees cost savings 

on transportation, lodging, per diem, 

travel time and other associated final 

inspection costs? If so, what are the 

estimated savings? 

i. Are there impacts to other processes 

and/or savings generated by the change 

in the maximum threshold for the 

grantees and/or subgrantees? If so, what 

are these impacts and savings? 

j. Will the maximum threshold change 

cause challenges to the grantees and 

subgrantees? If available, please provide 

any solutions to the identified 

challenges. 

k. What processes does your State, 

Tribe or jurisdiction have in place to 

alleviate waste, fraud and abuse? 

l. As a grantee, does your State, Tribe, 

or jurisdiction perform audits on small 

projects? If so, can you estimate how 

much it costs to complete the audit? 

m. Does your State, Tribe, or 

jurisdiction foresee or plan to change 

your policies, procedures, laws, or 

regulations in response to the new 

maximum threshold? For example: 

i. Grantee/subgrantee cost shares for 

large or small projects (if so, can you 

estimate how much or by what 

percentage change)? 

ii. Reconciliation for large or small 

projects? 

iii. Audits for large or small projects? 

iv. Additional consolidation of work 

on small projects? 

2. How will the change to the 

minimum threshold impact your State, 

Tribe, jurisdiction, or community? For 

example, please consider how it might 

impact the administrative costs of 

processing grants, the timeliness of 

receiving recovery funds, and the ability 

to ensure proper use of Public 

Assistance grant funding. Please provide 

data to support your statement, if 

available. 

a. How many projects between $1,000 

and $3,000 would be consolidated into 

a single project worksheet over $3,000 

based on a logical grouping of work 

(which is the current standard)? If not 

many, why? 

b. Are there obstacles to project 

consolidation that FEMA needs to 

consider? If so, please provide solutions 

to the identified obstacles. 

c. Is there a way to track the number 

of projects that will be consolidated? 

Would your State, Tribe, jurisdiction, or 

community be willing to submit data to 

support an estimate of the number of 

consolidated projects and/or participate 

in a survey to collect data? 

d. Is there a way to track the number 

of projects that did not meet the 

minimum threshold and will not be 

consolidated? Would your State, Tribe, 

jurisdiction, or community be willing to 

submit data to support an estimate of 

the number of consolidated project and/ 

or participate in a survey to collect data? 

e. Will greater consolidation of 

projects based on a logical grouping of 

work under the minimum threshold 

save time in the closeout of a small 

project? For example, will closing one 

consolidated project worksheet save 

time compared to closing three separate 

project worksheets? 

f. Does your State, Tribe, or 

jurisdiction foresee or plan to change 

your policies, procedures, laws, or 

regulations in response to the new 

minimum threshold? For example: 

i. Training and policies for project 

consolidation and logical grouping. 

ii. Change to disaster assistance 

minimum thresholds in your State, 

Tribe, or jurisdiction, if applicable. 

3. Do you have other comments or 

recommendations related to this subject 

that you would like to share for FEMA’s 

consideration? 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 5189. 

Dated: November 7, 2014. 

W. Craig Fugate, 

Administrator, Federal Emergency 

Management Agency. 

[FR Doc. 2014–27470 Filed 11–18–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–23–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

Services 

[OMB Control Number 1615–0064] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: OMB–25, Special Immigrant 

Visas for Fourth Preference 

Employment-Based Broadcasters; 

Extension, Without Change, of a 

Currently Approved Collection 

ACTION: 30-Day Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and 

Immigration Services (USCIS) will be 

submitting the following information 

collection request to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and clearance in accordance 

with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. The information collection notice 

was previously published in the Federal 

Register on August 21, 2014, at 79 FR 

49529, allowing for a 60-day public 

comment period. USCIS did not receive 

any comment in connection with the 60- 

day notice. 

DATES: The purpose of this notice is to 

allow an additional 30 days for public 

comments. Comments are encouraged 

and will be accepted until December 19, 

2014. This process is conducted in 

accordance with 5 CFR 1320.10. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments and/or 

suggestions regarding the item(s) 

contained in this notice, especially 

regarding the estimated public burden 

and associated response time, must be 

directed to the OMB USCIS Desk Officer 

via email at oira_submission@

omb.eop.gov. Comments may also be 

submitted via fax at (202) 395–5806. All 

submissions received must include the 

agency name and the OMB Control 

Number 1615–0064. 

You may wish to consider limiting the 

amount of personal information that you 

provide in any voluntary submission 

you make. For additional information 

please read the Privacy Act notice that 

is available via the link in the footer of 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments 

Note: The address listed in this notice 

should only be used to submit comments 

concerning this information collection. 

Please do not submit requests for individual 

case status inquiries to this address. If you 

are seeking information about the status of 

your individual case, please check ‘‘My Case 

Status’’ online at: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/ 

Dashboard.do, or call the USCIS National 

Customer Service Center at 1–800–375–5283. 

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