1103-0098SupportingStatement-AppAttachment

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

COPS Application Attachment to SF-424

Part A. Justification:

1. Necessity of Information Collection

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) was established under the authority of the Attorney General to implement Title I of the “crime bill,” the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Act of 1994 (the Act). The Act authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to States, units of local government, Indian tribal governments, other public and private entities, and multi-jurisdictional or regional consortia thereof to increase police presence, to expand and improve cooperative efforts between law enforcement agencies and members of the community, to address crime and disorder problems, and otherwise to enhance public safety.

The Attorney General has authorized the COPS Office to establish grant and cooperative agreement programs to advance community policing as well as the criteria used to determine eligibility for these programs. The COPS Office funds grant and cooperative agreement programs that advance community policing as an effective crime prevention strategy. COPS Office program funding is obligated to many different areas in an effort to enhance community policing. These funding categories may include: salary and benefits of new, additional sworn officer positions, civilian personnel, basic issue equipment, advanced department-wide equipment and technology, specialized problem-oriented policing projects, as well as training and technical assistance. COPS Office grants range from one-year grants to three-year grants depending upon the type of program.

All applicants for COPS Office funding will be required to complete:

1. SF-424;

2. COPS Application Attachment to SF-424 (OMB Number: 1103-0098); and

3. Budget Detail Worksheets (OMB Number: 1103-0097).

Each of these forms will be included as part of the application kit that the applicant receives. The applicants will also be provided with the COPS Application Guide (1103-0095) that provides instruction for how to apply for COPS Office funding.

The total respondent burden hours for all COPS Office application collection instrument is estimated to be 13 hours.

This is broken out as follows:

1) COPS Application Attachment to SF-424 average: 10 hours

2. Budget Detail Worksheets: 2 hours

3. Application Guide: 1 hour for review of guidance

As stated above, the COPS Office will also be using the SF-424. The burden hours associated with the SF-424 were not accounted for in this total, as these burden hours are already accounted for on this government-wide form.

The total number of respondents annually for COPS Office programs is estimated to be 6,200. The total number of annual hours requested for each of the four parts of the application is 80,600.

This is broken out as follows:

1) COPS Application Attachment to SF-424: 62,000 annual hours

2) Budget Detail Worksheets: 12,400 annual hours

3) Application Guide: 6,200 annual hours

The COPS Office is required to obtain information that is not collected on the SF-424, thus the COPS Application Attachment to SF-424 was developed to obtain the additional critical data elements that are necessary for COPS to properly review applications for funding. The COPS Application Attachment to SF-424 will be used in conjunction with SF-424 to obtain general background information, information on current and planned community policing efforts, information on the need for federal assistance, and the applicant’s proposed use of federal funding. Depending upon the COPS Office grant program for which an applicant is applying, the Application Attachment to SF-424 requires applicants to answer several short-answer questions in checklist and/or short narrative format. Specialized programs require a longer narrative to be attached to the applicant agency’s application.

The Application Attachment to SF-424 is a standardized form to be used by all COPS Office grant and cooperative agreement applicants. The Application Attachment to SF-424 form eliminated the need for multiple application forms across different COPS Office grant programs.

2. Needs and Uses

The information collected on the Application Attachment to SF-424 will be used to evaluate the merit of each applicant’s request for funding, based upon the applicant’s commitment to community policing as well as other crime prevention, detection and investigation activities.

3. Efforts to Minimize Burden

The Application Attachment to SF-424 is the result of a COPS Office business process reengineering effort aimed at standardization as required under the grant streamlining requirements of P.L. 106-107, the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999, as well as the President’s Management Agenda E-grants Initiative. This form streamlined application forms across all COPS Office programs and should reduce the burden on applicants due the applicant’s ability to use the same form for multiple programs, thus reducing the need for applicant’s to learn how to complete multiple differing forms. The Application Attachment to SF-424 will be administered annually and was designed to simplify the process for requesting funding by providing easy to understand instructions and simplified short-answer questions.

The Application Attachment to SF-424 has been developed for use online through the government-wide E-Government Initiative, Grants.gov. Those applicants that apply for funding online via Grants.gov will benefit from electronic forms that provide pre-filled fields, help features, and other time saving features. This will greatly simplify the process for applicants and will decrease the error-rate of submissions, thus reducing the burden hours for applicants.

It is anticipated that all potential applicants will be notified at least sixty days prior to the application deadline date so that sufficient time will be allowed to gather the necessary information to complete the Application Attachment to SF-424.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

There is no duplicative effort.

5. Methods to Minimize Burden on Small Business

This collection instrument will have no significant impact on small business.

6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection

Funding for the COPS Office’s grant and cooperative agreement programs is appropriated on an annual basis. For additional funds in future years, applicants may be required to reapply to the program. Interested agencies cannot become eligible for COPS grants without first completing application information requirements. Thus, less frequent collection is not possible.

7. Special Circumstances Influencing Collection

There are no special circumstances that would influence the collection of information pertaining to the Application Attachment to SF-424.

8. Reasons for Inconsistencies with 5 CFR 1320.6

There are no inconsistencies with this regulation.

9. Payment or Gift to Respondents

The COPS Office does not provide any payment or gift to respondents. Furthermore, it is not permitted under the terms of the grants.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality

No assurance of confidentiality has been made to respondents.

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

There are no questions of a sensitive nature. No information commonly considered as private is included in the proposed requested information.

12. Estimate of Hour Burden

COPS Office Programs	Annual Number of Responses for Application Attachment	Hours Per Response
Community Policing Development	200	10
COPS in Schools	2,000	5
Interoperable Communications Technology Program	100	20
Methamphetamine Grant Program	100	11
Safe Schools Initiative/Secure Our Schools	200	9
Technology Grant Program	400	20
Tribal Programs	200	10
Universal Hiring Program	2,000	3
Additional Specialized Program Appropriated Annually (i.e., Homeland Security Overtime Program, etc.)	1,000	5
	6,200 Annual Responses	10 Average Hours Per Response

As the chart above illustrates, there may be as many as 6,200 COPS Office applicants annually who will be required to complete the Application Attachment to SF-424. The estimated average hourly burden to the grantees is 10 hours for each respondent.

10 hours per respondent x 6,200 respondents = 62,000 hours

There is no record keeping burden for this collection.

Total Respondent Burden: 62,000 hours

13. Estimate of Cost Burden

Completing the Application Attachment to SF-424 will not generate any costs other than those associated with the applicants’ time. Therefore, the estimated burden cost is 0.

14. Estimated Annualized Cost to Federal Government

The estimated annualized cost to the Federal Government for reviewing, compiling, and processing the projected 6,200 grant applications is approximately 1 hour per form. No special equipment, other than currently in-use computing equipment is required. The cost to the Federal Government is as follows:

1 hour per form X 6,200 forms = 6,200 hours

6,200 hours @ $23.05 per hour = $142,910 for budget review

Total Annualized Cost to the Federal Government for reviewing the Application Attachment to SF-424 = $142,910..

15. Reason for Change in Burden

This is a new collection, there is no change in burden.

16. Publication

This data collection will not be published.

17. Request not to Display OMB Control Number

The COPS Office will display the OMB approval number and expiration date on the upper right hand corner of the collection instrument.

18. Exceptions to Certification Statement

The COPS Office does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.

Part B. Statistical Methods:

This collection of information does not require the employment of statistical methods.

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