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Comments by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
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State and Local Implementation Grant Program 2.0 Reporting Requirements |
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| SPOC |
Major Diane Stackhouse, PA SPOC, Director BCIS, Pennsylvania State Police, 8001 Bretz Dr, Harrisburg, PA 17112 717-346-5346 distackhou@pa.gov |
| Due by |
Due By:11/14/2017 |
| Document Citation: |
82 FR 43337 |
| Document Number: |
2017-19679 |
| Send To |
Jennifer Jessup Departmental Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6612 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230 |
or via email at PRAcomments@doc.gov |
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To ensure effective grant oversight and management, SLIGP developed a quarterly performance progress report (PPR) form for recipients to complete as part of post-award monitoring throughout the period of performance of the SLIGP 2.0 grant. The PPRs are critical to the success of the program and provide key insights into how grant funds are being used. Recipients are asked to report on progress toward program priority areas, which include, individuals sent to broadband conferences, staff hired, contracts executed, governance meetings held, and stakeholder events convened, as well as financial expenditures by cost category. NTIA seeks Office of Management Budget (OMB) approval of this form. NTIA will use the collection of information to ensure that SLIGP 2.0 grant recipients are effectively monitored and evaluated against the core purposes of the program established by the Act. |
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Requests for Comments: |
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Response |
| (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; |
We agree that the proposed information to be collected is necessary in that it allows the agency to track grant activities and spending amounts during the grant period which are needed for a performance analysis of the project. |
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| (b) |
The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden (including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; |
We agree with the agency's estimate regarding the burden of the proposed collection of information |
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| (c ) |
Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected |
The Excel doc is more user friendly than the older version in MS Word. However, there is no clear comparison between baseline and current progress of set NTIA milestones; no clear way of seeing the states progress. We would recommend additional columns that outline metrics for easier comparison between NTIA baseline and state's activites/progress towards milestones; i.e. Quarterly progress and program to date progress. |
| We recommend having one comprehensive narrative section that encompasses the activities for that quarter to explain circumstances if milestones are not met and to highlight best practices. |
| Along with the written portion of the report, the respondent should have the ability to incorporate graphs and charts for progress/milestones met, but this should not be mandatory. |
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| (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. |
Automated collection techniques should be utilized to ease the burden of data collection. It would be useful to complete this information in an online reporting system; a system that maintains previous reported information and which allows the latest quarterly report and figures to be added and calculated automatically. Consider permitting use of electronic signatures. This would reduce burden on the state as well as NTIA and allow for quicker posting of information to the public if a digital review process was used. |