Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request-Application Processing Fees

AGENCY:

Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), Treasury.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507. The Office of Thrift Supervision within the Department of the Treasury will submit the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. Today, OTS is soliciting public comments on its proposal to reinstate this information collection.

DATES:

Submit written comments on or before February 14, 2005.

ADDRESSES:

Send comments, referring to the collection by title of the proposal or by OMB approval number, to Information Collection Comments, Chief Counsel's Office, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552; send a facsimile transmission to (202) 906-6518; or send an e-mail to infocollection.comments@ots.treas.gov. OTS will post comments and the related index on the OTS Internet site at http://www.ots.treas.gov. In addition, interested persons may inspect comments at the Public Reading Room, 1700 G Street, NW., by appointment. To make an appointment, call (202) 906-5922, send an e-mail to publicinfo@ots.treas.gov, or send a facsimile transmission to (202) 906-7755.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

You can request additional information about this proposed information collection from Marilyn K. Burton, Senior Paralegal (Regulations), (202) 906-6467, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OTS may not conduct or sponsor an information collection, and respondents are not required to respond to an information collection, unless the information collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. As part of the approval process, we invite comments on the following information collection.

Comments should address one or more of the following points:

a. Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of OTS;

b. The accuracy of OTS's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection;

c. Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected;

d. Ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of information technology.

We will summarize the comments that we receive and include them in the OTS request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public record. In this notice, OTS is soliciting comments concerning the following information collection.

Title of Proposal: Application Processing Fees.

OMB Number: 1550-0053.

Form Number: N/A.

Regulation requirement: 12 CFR 502.5 and 502.70.

Description: Pursuant to Section 9 of the HOLA, 12 U.S.C. 1467, the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision (“OTS”) is authorized to charge assessments to recover the costs of examining savings associations and their affiliates, to charge fees to recover the costs of processing applications and other filings, and to charge fees to cover OTS's direct and indirect expenses in regulating savings associations and their affiliates.

An institution must submit a fee with certain applications, including Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 filings, notices, and requests (hereafter collectively referred to as “applications”), before such applications will be accepted for processing by OTS. 12 CFR 502.5. The institution is required to state how it calculates the appropriate fee, in accordance with OTS's schedule. 12 CFR 502.70.

Type of Review: Reinstatement.

Affected Public: Savings Associations.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,143.

Estimated Burden Hours per Response: .036 hours.

Estimated Frequency of Response: Event-generated.

Estimated Total Burden: 77 hours.

Clearance Officer: Marilyn K. Burton, (202) 906-6467, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552.

OMB Reviewer: Mark Menchik, (202) 395-3176, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10236, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503.