On March 11, 2021, the President signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “Act”), Pub. L. No. 117-2. Title III, Subtitle B, Section 3201of the Act provides $21.55 billion for the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to make payments to States (defined to include the District of Columbia), U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa), and certain local governments with more than 200,000 residents (collectively the “eligible grantees”) to provide financial assistance and housing stability services to eligible households, and cover the costs for other affordable rental housing and eviction prevention activities for eligible households.
Section 3201(d)(1) requires the eligible grantees to use the funds to provide financial assistance and housing stability services to eligible households, and cover costs for other affordable rental housing and eviction prevention activities for eligible households. Section 3201(c)(1) provides that not later than 60 days after March 11, 2021, the Secretary shall pay each eligible grantee not less than 40% of each grantee’s total allocation. Treasury intends to begin making payments as soon as possible given the urgent need for the funds being disbursed.
Pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures established at 5 C.F.R. § 1320.13, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) requests emergency processing for an Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2) program information collection request, revising OMB Control Number 1505-0270.
On March 11, 2021, the President signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “Act”), Pub. L. No. 117-2. Title III, Subtitle B, Section 3201 of the Act provides $21.55 billion for the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to make payments to States (defined to include the District of Columbia), U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa), and certain local governments with more than 200,000 residents (collectively the “eligible grantees”) to provide financial assistance and housing stability services to eligible households and cover the costs for other affordable rental housing and eviction prevention activities for eligible households.
Section 3201(c) directed Treasury to distribute funds in increments, and eligible grantees can request additional funds as needed. Treasury is seeking approval for the ERA 2 additional funds request form to streamline the process by which eligible grantees can request their remaining funds. This information collection is vitally important for Treasury to distribute each eligible grantee’s remaining allocation.
Certain eligible grantees have exhausted, or will soon exhaust, their initial payments. Due to the need for eligible grantees to request their allocated funds from Treasury expeditiously and avoid disruptions in the delivery of assistance to eligible households, Treasury requests emergency processing and approval of the ERA 2 additional funds request form by August 17, 2021. Given the inability to seek public comment during such a short timeframe, Treasury requests a waiver from the requirement to publish notice in the Federal Register seeking public comment.
The revision is to add the ERA 2 Additional Funds Request Form to the PRA package, which slightly increases the burden estimates by 241 hours.
$0
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Molly Stasko 202 868-2972 molly.stasko@hq.dhs.gov
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
1505-0270 Emergency Justification Memo for PRA Clearance-ERA2 Interim Report and Guidance_signed.pdf
ERA2 Additional Funding Request Form
1505-0270 - ERA2 - SS - Additional Funds Request Form_8-10-21.docx
ERA2 Additional Funding Request Form