# Proposed Collection: Comment Request > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A97-16991 ## Record - **Collection:** Federal Register - **Document type:** Notice - **Published:** June 30, 1997 - **Citation:** 62 FR 35157 ## Text CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE Proposed Collection: Comment Request June 25, 1997. ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) , as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA95) (44 U.S.C. Sec. 3508(c)(2)(A)). This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirement on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the Corporation for National and Community Service is soliciting comments concerning its proposed revision of its Voucher and Payment Request Form. Copies of the form can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the address section of this notice. DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the addresses section on or before August 24, 1997. The Corporation for National and Community Service is particularly interested in comments which: Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Corporation, including whether the information will have practical utility; Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; Enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses. ADDRESSES: Send comments to Levon Buller, National Service Trust, Corporation for National and Community Service, Mail Stop 7200, 1201 New York Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20525. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Levon Buller, (202) 606-5000, ext. 383. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background After AmeriCorps participants complete periods of national service, they receive ``education awards'' that can be used to pay against qualified student loans or pay for post secondary educational expenses. This award is an amount of money set aside in their ``account'' in the National Service Trust Fund. They have seven years in which to draw against any unused balance. The Voucher and Payment Request Form is the document that an AmeriCorps participant uses to authorize and request that a payment be made from his or her account. The form serves three purposes: (1) the AmeriCorps participant uses it to request that a specific payment be made from the participant's account, (2) the school or loan company uses it to indicate the amount for which the individual is eligible, and (3) the school or loan company and participant use it to certify that the payment meets various legislative requirements. When the Corporation receives a voucher, it is processed and a payment is issued by the U.S. Treasury to the loan holder or school on behalf of the participant. The form was designed and has been in use since the summer of 1994. During that time, CNCS has learned, through experience, the strengths and weaknesses of the form. The revisions are being proposed to rectify the weaknesses. II. Current Action The purposes of the revisions are to (1) eliminate unnecessary responses contained in the original form, (2) clarify instructions for completing the form, (3) simplify technical language on the original form, and (4) put onto one document space for signatures and the statements for which the signatories indicate affirmation. Regarding this last point, the current form refers those who complete the form to certain statements contained in a separate document. It is assumed that, by signing the form, the signatories are verifying agreement with those statements. On the proposed revised form, the statements and the signatures will be on one document. This will clearly bind the statements to the affirming signatures. The Corporation for National and Community Service seeks to continue using this particular form, albeit in a revised version, to request and authorize payments from an AmeriCorps participant's account. The current Voucher and Payment Request Form is due to expire July 31, 1997. CNCS has asked for a 60-day extension to use the [[Page 35158]] existing form until a revised form is approved. Type of Review: Renewal. Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service. Title: Voucher and Payment Request Form. OMB Number: 3045-0014. Agency Number: N/A. Affected Public: AmeriCorps participants and the loan holders or schools to which they wish to make payments. Total Respondents: 35,000 annually. Frequency: Average of once per year. Average Time Per Response: Two minutes (\1/4\ minute for AmeriCorps participants and 1 \3/4\ minute for school/loan holder). Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,167 hours. Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): N/A. Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): N/A. Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget approval of the information collection request; they will also become a matter of public record. Dated: June 25, 1997. David Spevacek, Director, Financial Operations. [FR Doc. 97-16991 Filed 6-27-97; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6050-28-P --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A97-16991. Public record. Not legal advice.