[Federal Register: March 17, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 52)]
[Notices]
[Page 14214-14215]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17mr08-21]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Economic Development Administration
Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Revolving Loan
Fund Reporting and Compliance Requirements
AGENCY: Economic Development 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
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before May 16, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Diana Hynek, Departmental
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th
and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet
at dhynek@doc.gov).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should
be directed to Kenneth M. Kukovich, EDA PRA Liaison, Office of
Management Services, Economic Development Administration, Department of
Commerce, HCHB Room 7227, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC
20230; telephone: (202) 482-4965; fax: (202) 501-0766; e-mail:
kkukovich@eda.doc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The mission of the Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to
lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting innovation
and competitiveness, preparing American regions for growth and success
in the worldwide economy. One of EDA's seven economic development
programs is the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Program.
Under the RLF Program, EDA's regional offices award competitive
grants to units of state and local government, institutions of higher
education, public or private non-profit institutions, EDA-approved
economic development district organizations, and Indian Tribes to
establish RLFs. Following a grant award, an RLF grantee disburses money
from the RLF to make loans at interest rates that are at or below the
current market rate to small businesses or to businesses that cannot
otherwise borrow capital. On occasion, RLFs also make loans to finance
public infrastructure. As the loans are repaid, the grantee uses a
portion of interest earned to pay administrative expenses and adds the
remaining principal and interest repayments to the RLF's capital base
to make new loans. An RLF award that is well managed is actively used
to make loans to eligible businesses and entities, continues to revolve
funds, and does not have a termination date.
One of the unique features of the program is that, by law, EDA must
exercise fiduciary responsibility over its RLF portfolio in
perpetuity--a significant challenge since many RLF grants date back to
1979. To date, EDA has managed its RLF portfolio by requiring grantees
to file the Semiannual Report for EDA-Funded RLF Grants (ED-209S) every
six months. EDA has exercised its discretion to allow some grantees to
file on an annual basis, and these grantees submit the Annual Report
for EDA-Funded RLF Grants (ED-209A) once a year.
However, a recent Department of Commerce (DOC) Office of Inspector
General (OIG) report titled Aggressive EDA Leadership and Oversight
Needed to Correct Persistent Problems in RLF Program (Audit Report No.
OA-18200-7-0001/March 2007; for the full report, see http://
www.oig.doc.gov/oig/reports/2007/EDA-OA-18200-03-2007.pdf) found that
EDA failed to exercise adequate oversight of the program. Specifically,
the OIG found that EDA:
Did not have an adequate tracking and oversight system.
[[Page 14215]]
Failed to ensure grantees' compliance with critical
financial and audit reporting requirements.
Failed to ensure efficient capital utilization by
grantees. Under EDA's regulations, if an RLF grantee fails to satisfy
its capital utilization requirement as set out in its RLF plan for two
consecutive reporting periods, EDA can require the grantee to sequester
``excess funds'' in a separate interest-bearing account and remit the
interest earned on these funds to the U.S. Treasury. (Under 13 CFR
307.16, ``capital utilization rate'' is the amount of RLF capital as
currently loaned out or committed to be loaned out as a percentage of
the RLF's capital base and ``excess funds'' is the difference between
the actual percentage of RLF capital loaned and the applicable capital
utilization percentage.)
EDA's failure to require sequestration of excess funds on
a consistent basis has resulted in lower capital utilization rates and
lower remittances to the U.S. Treasury than would be commensurate with
adequate oversight of the program.
Did not use single audits as a tool for managing the RLF
program. Under OMB Circular A-133, single audits are required of most
RLF grantees.
The OIG recommended that EDA develop an Action Plan to rectify
these deficiencies and a ``standard grantee reporting and monitoring
system that provides the critical information EDA needs to manage the
RLF program and protect its assets.'' The OIG also recommended that EDA
``ensure that all RLF grant recipients undergo required single audits
and file reports with the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.''
EDA agreed to implement the recommendations. As part of its
implementation, EDA committed to reviewing the RLF reporting forms to:
(a) Ensure all information needed to manage the RLF program and protect
EDA assets is collected, (b) ensure that the form is suitably
integrated into an automated RLF reporting, tracking, monitoring, and
management system, and (c) to the extent possible, minimize the
paperwork burden on RLF grantees.
In addition, EDA will update its regulations to reflect these
changes to the RLF program and to ensure effective management of
federal funds.
Through this review, EDA determined the following:
The use of both annual and semi-annual reports is sub-
optimal. In terms of providing valuable information to EDA for program
monitoring purposes, the ED-209A is not as useful as the ED-209S. Also,
the lack of identical fields on the two reporting forms makes it
difficult, if not impossible, to report on the status of the portfolio
as a whole. Having different RLF grantees fill out either the ED-209A
or the ED-209S effectively separates RLF grantees into two groups, with
two different sets of reporting requirements and reporting dates, which
contributes to the large number of missing or late reports highlighted
by the OIG. For these reasons EDA has determined that all RLF grantees
will report semi-annually using Form ED-209S.
The fact that neither of the current reporting forms
collects grantee EIN numbers makes it difficult, if not impossible, for
EDA to determine whether a grantee has filed its single audit report
with the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. Searching by EIN number is the
most reliable way to locate single audit reports in the Clearinghouse
database.
EDA needs to begin collecting e-mail addresses to
facilitate communication with grantees.
Many of the fields of the current RLF reporting forms are
duplicative, and therefore contribute to reporting inconsistencies and
errors. Some fields should not change from reporting period to
reporting period (e.g., amount of EDA investment assistance provided),
but are still requested each and every time. Many others are calculated
fields, for example the ``RLF income'' field (line B.8 of the current
ED-209S) is calculated as interest earned plus earnings from accounts
plus fees earned (lines B.5, B.6, and B.7). The use of a hardcopy form
with a large number of fields that must be calculated by the grantee
has led to a significant amount of mathematical errors.
EDA addressed the issues highlighted above by creating a web-based
grantee reporting system that eliminates all duplicative and calculable
fields. This system is designed to allow grantees, if they so choose,
to upload data directly from their accounting software into the Web-
based system, thus eliminating time-consuming data entry.
Alternatively, grantees have the option of manually entering data into
the Web-based system. All grantees will be provided with a unique user
id and password, and the system will meet all NIST information
technology security controls. All grantees will be required to report
on a semi-annual basis and to provide e-mail contact information, as
well as EIN and DUNS numbers. This system is expected to ``go live'' at
the beginning of fiscal year 2009.
II. Method of Collection
The report will be submitted electronically.
III. Data
OMB Control Number: 0610-0095.
Form Number: ED-209 (replaces ED-209S and ED-209A).
Type of Review: Regular submission.
Affected Public: Not for-profit institutions; state, local or
tribal government.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,168.
Estimated Time per Response: 3 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 3,504.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 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 proposed collection of information;
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
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: March 11, 2008.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E8-5216 Filed 3-14-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-24-P