Draft 2010 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations

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The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests comments on its Draft 2010 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations, available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg_ regpol_reports_congress/.

The Draft Report is divided into four chapters. Chapter I examines the benefits and costs of major Federal regulations issued in fiscal year 2009 and summarizes the benefits and costs of major regulations issued between October 1999 and September 2009. It also discusses regulatory impacts on State, local, and Tribal governments, small business, wages, and economic growth. Chapter II offers recommendations for regulatory reform. Chapter III provides an update on implementation of the Information Quality Act. Chapter IV summarizes agency compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

AoA Proposes Revisions to the State Program Report

SUMMARY:
The Administration on Aging(AoA) is announcing that the proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

FY 2011 reporting year and thereafter, while the current reporting, OMB Approval Number 0985–0008, will be extended to the end of the FY 2010 reporting cycle. The proposed FY 2011 version may be found on the AoA web site link entitled Proposed SPR for Review available at http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/Program_Results/docs/SPRDraft_form_2010_draft.pdf.

AoA estimates the burden of this collection of information as follows: 2,828 hours

DATES: Submit written comments on the collection of information by May 14, 2010.

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New OMB and CBO Reports Show Continuing Current Policies Would Produce Large Deficits — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

By Kathy Ruffing, Paul N. Van de Water and James R. Horney
On August 25, both the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released updated budget projections. Some observers, comparing OMB’s estimate of the deficit over the next ten years under the President’s proposed policies ($9.1 trillion) to CBO’s “baseline” estimate of the deficit under current law ($7.1 trillion), jumped to the conclusion that the President proposes to increase the deficit dramatically. In fact, the opposite is true. The President’s proposals would produce significantly lower deficits over the next ten years than continuing current policies.

This and other confusions have occurred because both the OMB and CBO reports are chock-full of numbers that are hard for even seasoned budget-watchers — and almost impossible for ordinary citizens — to interpret. This brief analysis explains what some of the numbers mean, how CBO’s official baseline must be adjusted to show what CBO’s estimate of deficits would be if it assumed current policies are continued, and why even that adjusted baseline should not be compared with OMB’s estimate of deficits under the President’s policies.

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Guidance for Drug-Free Workplace Requirements

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is proposing guidance on drug-free workplace requirements for financial assistance. OMB is proposing to issue this guidance as an administrative simplification that will streamline the policy framework for drug-free workplace requirements in two ways.

• First, the guidance is in a form suitable for Federal agency adoption, which will reduce the volume of Federal regulations on drug-free workplace, make it easier for the affected public to use them, and make it easier and less expensive for the Federal Government to maintain them.
• Second, the guidance is located in the recently established Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (2 CFR). Locating the OMB guidance in 2 CFR will make it easier to find. It also is the first step toward co-locating in the same CFR title the agencies' regulations that implement the guidance, a further simplification for the public.

This notice also proposes a minor change to the previously issued 2 CFR part 1, to conform that part with the guidance published today.

DATES: Comments are due on or before October 27, 2008.

Draft 2008 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests comments on its Draft 2008 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulation. The full Draft Report is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/regpol-reports_congress.html, and is divided into four chapters. Chapter I examines the benefits and costs of major Federal regulations issued in fiscal year 2007 and summarizes the benefits and costs of major regulations issued between September 1997 and 2007. It also discusses regulatory impacts on State, local, and tribal governments, small business, wages, and economic growth. Chapter II examines trends in regulation since OMB began to compile benefit and cost estimates records in 1981. Chapter III provides an update on implementation of the Information Quality Act, and Chapter IV summarizes agency compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. DATES: To ensure consideration of comments as OMB prepares this Draft Report for submission to Congress, comments must be in writing and received by 45 days after publication.

Financial Reporting for Grants and Cooperative Agreements:Federal Financial Report (FFR)

The Office of Management and Budget is consolidating and replacing four existing financial reporting forms (SF-269, SF-269A, SF-272, and SF-272A) with a single Federal Financial Report (FFR). The purpose of the FFR is to give recipients of grants and cooperative agreements a standard format for reporting the financial status of their grants and cooperative agreements (hereby referred to collectively as awards). Federal awarding agencies developed the FFR as part of their implementation of the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 (Pub. L. 106-107). Respondents: Federal Grants making agencies and their grantees. Additional Information: Copies of the proposed collection may be obtained by going to OMB's main Web page at http://www.OMB.gov and clicking on the ``Grants Management,'' then ``Forms'' then Proposed Government-Wide Standard Grants Reporting Forms links. OMB Comment: OMB is required to make a decision concerning the collection of information between 30 and 60 days after publication of this document in the Federal Register. Therefore, a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication. Interested parties are encouraged to send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the Office of Federal Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, Telephone: 202-395-7316/Fax: 202-395-6974 (these are not toll-free numbers), E-mail: OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov within 30 days from the date of this publication in the Federal Register. Please include ``FFR comments'' in the subject line of the e-mail message; please also include the full body of your comments in the text of the message and as an attachment. Include your name, title, organization, postal address, telephone number, and e-mail address in your message.

OMB Circular A-133 Information Collection under OMB Review

Federal Register The information collection request involves two proposed information collections from two types of entities:

1. Reports from auditors to auditees concerning audit results, audit findings, and questioned costs; and
2. reports from auditees to the Federal Government providing information about the auditees, the awards they administer, and the audit results.

These collection efforts are required by the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (31 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.) and OMB Circular A-133, ``Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations.'' Circular A-133's information collection requirements apply to approximately 36,000 States, local governments, and non-profit organizations on an annual basis.

Needs and Uses: Reports from auditors to auditees and reports from auditees to the Federal government are used by non-Federal entities, pass-through entities, and Federal agencies to ensure that Federal awards are expended in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) (maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau) uses the information on the SF-SAC to ensure proper distribution of audit reports to Federal agencies and to identify non-Federal entities who have not filed the required reports. The FAC also uses the information on the SF-SAC to create a government-wide database which contains information on audit results. This database is publicly accessible on the Internet at http://harvester.census.gov/fac/. It is used by Federal agencies, pass-through entities, non-Federal entities, auditors, the General Accounting Office, OMB, and the general public for management and information about Federal awards and the results of audits. See Federal Register notice for complete information and instructions for submitting comments.