Agenda - Council Work Session - 03/08/2022

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4384 Federal Register/Vol. 87, No. 18/Thursday, January 27, 2022/Rules and Regulations This section also addresses enumerated correspondence;recipients need not response,given the disproportionate eligible uses proposed by commenters track staff hours. The interim final rule impacts of the pandemic in those that Treasury has not incorporated into also posed a question on how long communities. Similarly,Tribal the final rule. recipients should be able to use funds communities recommended that their Recipients should also note that the for staff responding to COVID-19 and public health staff be presumed eligible Office of Management and Budget's what other measures or presumptions due to the disproportionate impact of (OMB) Uniform Administrative might Treasury consider to assess the the pandemic on their communities. Requirements, Cost Principles, and extent to which public sector staff are Some commenters proposed that they be Audit Requirements for Federal Awards engaged in COVID-19 response in an able to use the administrative (commonly called the "Uniform easily administrable manner. convenience for staff outside of public Guidance")generally applies to SLFRF. Treasury also provided further health and safety that are responding to a.Public Sector Capacity and Workforce guidance on the types of employees COVID-19 (i.e.,to be able to pay the full covered by this category of eligible use, payroll and covered benefits for any Public Safety,Public Health,and specifically: "Public safety employees staff"primarily dedicated"to COVID— Human Services Staff would include police officers (including 19 response). Summary of Interim Final Rule: state police officers), sheriffs and deputy Treasury Response:In the final rule, Under the interim final rule,funds may sheriffs,firefighters,emergency medical Treasury is maintaining the approach in be used for payroll and covered responders, correctional and detention the interim final rule,including benefits 241 for public safety,public officers, and those who directly support elaborations issued in further guidance, health,health care,human services, and such employees such as dispatchers and but providing additional clarification on similar employees 242 of a recipient supervisory personnel.Public health its application,including methods to government, for the portion of the employees 243 would include employees apply the approach to minimize employee's time that is spent involved in providing medical and other administrative burden. Treasury notes responding to COVID-19. For health services to patients and that recipients may assess the extent to administrative convenience,the supervisory personnel,including which staff are dedicated to responding recipient may consider public health medical staff assigned to schools, to COVID-19 through a variety of and safety employees to be entirely prisons, and other such institutions, and means,including establishing devoted to responding to COVID-19, other support services essential for presumptions or assessing public health and therefore their full payroll and patient care(e.g.,laboratory technicians, and safety staff at the division or covered benefits eligible to be covered, medical examiner, or morgue staff)as operating unit level.For example, a if the employee, or his or her operating well as employees of public health recipient could consider the amount of unit or division,is "primarily departments directly engaged in matters time spent by employees in its public dedicated"to responding to COVID-19, related to public health and related health department's epidemiology meaning that more than half of the supervisory personnel.Human services division in responding to COVID-19 employee,unit, or division's time is staff include employees providing or and,if a majority of its employees are dedicated to responding to COVID-19. administering social services;public dedicated to responding to COVID-19, Recipients may consider other benefits; child welfare services; and determine that the entire division is presumptions for assessing the extent to child, elder, or family care, as well as primarily dedicated to responding to which an employee, division,or others." COVID-19. Treasury also clarifies that operating unit is responding to COVID— Public Comment:Measuring Time recipients may use reasonable estimates 19.Recipients must periodically Spent on COVID-19 Response:Treasury to establish administrable reassess their determination and received public comments on several presumptions;for example, a recipient maintain records to support their components of this eligible use category. could estimate,based on discussions assessment, such as payroll records, Many commenters argued that it poses with staff,the general share of time that attestations from supervisors or staff, or an administrative burden to identify the employees in a specific role or type of regular work product or extent to which staff are responding to position spend on COVID-19 related COVID-19 and to maintain records to tasks and apply that share of time to all 241In general,if an employee's wages and salaries support that assessment. Largely citing employees in that position. are an eligible use of SLFRF funds,recipients may Recipients are generally required to be treat the employee's covered benefits as an eligible administrative burden in assessing able to support uses of SLFRF funds as use of SLFRF funds.For purposes of SLFRF funds, eligibility,several commenters eligible,including,in this instance, covered benefits include costs of all types of leave recommended revisions to the (vacation,family-related,sick,military, administrative convenience that the full maintenance of records to support an bereavement,sabbatical,jury duty),employee assessment that public health and safety insurance(health,life,dental,vision),retirement payroll and covered benefits for public staff are primarily dedicated to (pensions,401(k)),unemployment benefit plans health and safety staff"primarily responding to COVID-19. As noted (federal and state),workers compensation dedicated"to responding to COVID-19 insurance,and Federal Insurance Contributions Act ma above,recipients may use reasonable (FICA)taxes(which includes Social Security and y be paid with SLFRF funds. Some estimates to implement this provision. Medicare taxes).As described further in the section commenters recommended presuming Recipients should maintain records on Deposits into Pension Funds in Restrictions on Use, that all public health and safety staff are how they developed these estimates and that limitation on use does not apply to pension primarily dedicated to COVID-19 contributions that are part of regular payroll response,while others proposed that need not track staff hours. Treasury contributions for employees whose wages and notes that records retained can include salaries are an eligible use of SLFRF funds. public health and safety workers who payroll records (e.g.,the number and 242 Note that the interim final rule adapted prior primarily serve QCTs or low-and type of staff in various positions), guidance issued for CRF that described these four moderate-income areas be presumed to attestations from supervisors or staff categories of employees;however,when listing the be primarily dedicated to COVID-19 specific occupations or types of employees in each py (e.g., self-attestation of share of time of these categories,the guidance collapses health spent on COVID-19),or regular work care and public health into one category titled 243 Note that this category encompasses both product or correspondence (e.g "public health."Therefore,the presumption public health and health care employees;both are described around public health employees also treated as public health employees for the purposes calendars, email correspondence, covers health care employees. of this eligible use category. documents, and other electronic