Agenda - Council Work Session - 03/08/2022

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Federal Register/Vol. 87, No. 18/Thursday, January 27, 2022/Rules and Regulations 4391 feasible.Where relevant,recipients availability on the spread of COVID-19. the disease.252 These alternatives should compare the proposal against the Recipients may also consider other include personal protective equipment, alternative of improving existing capital public health impacts of the level of ventilation improvements,utilizing assets already owned or leasing other diagnostic testing capacity, for example excess capacity in other facilities or capital assets.Recipients should use if insufficient capacity has decreased wings,or temporary facility capacity quantitative data when available, testing for other health conditions. The expansions. although they are encouraged to recipient may consider alternatives such Large capital expenditures intended supplement with qualitative as expanding existing laboratories or for general economic development or to information and narrative description. building a laboratory of a different size. aid the travel,tourism,and hospitality Recipients that complete analyses with In comparing the effectiveness of the industries—such as convention centers minimal or no quantitative data should capital expenditures, examples of and stadiums—are,on balance, provide an explanation for doing so. factors that the recipient may consider generally not reasonably proportional to In determining whether their include when the facilities will become addressing the negative economic proposed capital expenditure is superior operational and for how long;the daily impacts of the pandemic,as the efficacy to alternative capital expenditures, throughput of COVID-19 tests; and the of a large capital expenditure intended recipients should consider the following effect on minimizing delays in test for general economic development in factors against each selected alternative. results on the populations that such remedying pandemic harms may be very a.A comparison of the effectiveness of tests will serve.In comparing costs,the limited compared to its cost.253 the capital expenditures in addressing recipient may compare the total the harm identified.Recipients should expected cost of the new laboratory Presumptions on Capital Expenditures generally consider the effectiveness of (including costs of acquisition of real For administrative convenience,the the capital expenditures in addressing property, construction of the laboratory, final rule provides presumptions on the harm over the useful life of the and purchase of any necessary whether a Written Justification is capital asset and may consider metrics equipment needed to operationalize the required—and required to be submitted such as the number of impacted or lab), against the expected costs of to Treasury through reporting—based on disproportionately impacted individuals expanding existing laboratories the type and size of the capital or entities served,when such (whether by replacing current expenditure,as detailed in the table individuals or entities are estimated to equipment with higher throughout below. be served,the relative time horizons of devices or physically expanding space As discussed above,Tribal the project, and consideration of any to accommodate additional capacity) or governments are not required to uncertainties or risks involved with the building a new laboratory of a different complete the Written Justification for capital expenditure. size,including by leasing property.As applicable capital expenditures,but the b.A comparison of the expected total a reminder,recipients should only associated substantive requirements cost of the capital expenditures. consider alternatives that are potentially continue to apply,including the Recipients should consider the expected effective and reasonably feasible. requirement that a capital expenditure total cost of the capital expenditure Because,in all cases,uses of SURF must be reasonably designed to benefit required to construct,purchase,install, funds to respond to public health and the individual or class that experienced or improve the capital assets intended to negative economic impacts of the the identified impact or harm and must address the public health or negative pandemic must be related and be related and reasonably proportional economic impact of the public health reasonably proportional to a harm to the extent and type of impact or emergency. Recipients should include caused or exacerbated by the pandemic, harm. pre-development costs in their some capital expenditures may not calculation and may choose to include eligible. For example, constructing a 252 For instance,the CDC has published detailed information on ongoing operational new correctional facility would recommendations for nursing homes,long-term care costs,although this information is not facilities,and correctional and detention facilities, generally not be a proportional response on infection prevention and control.Many of these required.Recipients should balance the to an increase in the rate of certain recommendations are relatively low cost,such as crimes or overall crime as most proper use of PPE.In addition,increasing effectiveness and costs of the proposed vaccination rates among nursing home staff is correctional facilities have historically among the most important ways to decrease the capital expenditure against alternatives g p y and demonstrate that their proposed accommodated fluctuations in spread of the disease.Centers for Disease Control occupancy. In addition,construction and Prevention,Interim Infection Prevention and capital expenditure is superior. Further, of new congregate facilities,which Control Recommendations to Prevent SARS—CoV— recipients should choose the most cost- would generally be expected to involve 2 Spread in Nursing Homes(September 10,2021), effective option unless it substantively https://www.cdc.govlcoronavirusl2019-ncovlhcpl reduces the effectiveness of the capital expenditures greater than$1 million, long-term-care.html#anchor 1631030153017. investment in addressing the harm would generally not be a proportional 253 For instance,researchers have found no response to mitigate Or prevent COVID— consistent positive relationship between building identified. 19,because such construction is sports facilities and local economic development. As an example, a recipient As Siegfried and Zimbalist(2000,103)write in a generally expected to be more costly review of the literature,"independent work on the considering building a new diagnostic p testing laboratory to enhance COVID-19 than alternative approaches or capital economic impact of stadiums and arenas has expenditures that may be equally Or uniformly found that there is no statistically testing capacity may consider whether more effective in decreasing spread of significant positive correlation between sports existing laboratories sufficiently meet facility construction and economic development." demand for COVID-19 testing, John Siegfried and Andrew Zimbalist,The considering the demand for test results 251 See,e.g.,"Economic Perspectives on Economics of Sports Facilities and Their Incarceration and the Criminal Justice System," Communities,Journal of Economic Perspectives 14, (along with their turnaround time) as Council of Economic Advisers(April 2016),pg.36— no.3(Summer 2000):95-114,https:// well as the impact of current testing 43. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.14.3.95.