[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 238 (Monday, December 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72207-72209]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27272]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY


Science and Technology Directorate; Submission for Review; 
Revision of Currently Approved Information Collection Requests for 
Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 
(SAFETY ACT)--Application Kit and Forms 002 Through 005

AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology 
Directorate.

ACTION: Notice; 60-day notice request for review and comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) invites the general 
public and other Federal agencies to comment on revised information 
collection requests (ICRs) 1640-0001, 1640-0002, 1640-0003, 1640-0004, 
1640-0005, and 1640-0006, SAFETY ACT Application Kit and Forms 003 
through 007. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, (Pub. 
L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35) DHS is soliciting comments on the 
revisions for the approved information collection requests. The ICRs 
previously were published in the Federal Register on October 16, 2003, 
at 68 FR 59696, allowing for OMB review and a 60-day public comment 
period, and on February 20, 2004 at 69 FR 7978 to allow for an 
additional 30-day public comment period. The revised ICR submissions 
set forth in this Notice incorporate comments received by DHS as 
applicable.

Discussion of Comments and Changes

Application Preparation Burden

    Six commenters expressed concern that the amount and type of 
information required in the Application Kit is burdensome, if not 
prohibitive, and that only large companies will be able to bring to 
bear the preparation resources required to answer all of the questions. 
One commenter estimated costs in excess of $1M to prepare applications 
for its various Anti-Terrorism Technologies (ATTs). Other commenters 
estimated the preparation effort at 1000 staff hours or more per 
application. Commenters also expressed the opinion that some of the 
information being requested--particularly financial information--is not 
relevant to the evaluation of applications against the criteria of the 
Act.
    The Department has been, and continues to remain, sensitive to 
concerns about the application process, and the perceived difficulty of 
preparing and submitting an application. Consequently, the Department 
specifically solicited comments on the Application Kit and process in 
the Interim Rule. Based on both the comments received concerning the 
initial Application Kit as well as the experience of the Office of 
SAFETY Act Implementation (OSAI) with the applications filed to date, 
OSAI has published numerous Frequently Asked Questions on its Web site 
as well as undertaken a substantial revision of the Application Kit.
    The Department is very sensitive to the perceived difficulty, and 
required monetary and personnel resources required to complete an 
Application for SAFETY Act Benefits. In order to obtain specific data 
on this issue, in July 2004 the Director of the Office of SAFETY Act 
Implementation personally spoke with each company that submitted a full 
application to obtain feedback regarding the time and effort that 
companies invested in completing the application. The responses 
indicated that the amount of time was proportional to the size of the 
company, with small to medium sized organizations spending considerably 
less time compiling the information required to complete the 
application then did large corporations with more cumbersome internal 
bureaucratic processes. Overall, it appears it takes most organizations 
approximately 150 hours to complete the full application utilizing the 
prior version of the application kit. The shortest time reported was 25 
hours and the most was 1000. Discussions with the single applicant that 
spent the 1000 hours revealed that the time resulted from its team 
approach and consequent internal staffing decisions coupled with the 
numerous internal approval processes necessary prior to submission of 
the application, not from the complexity of the application itself. 
Confirmation of this assessment came from discussions with two 
applicants of similar size; one reported its application took no more 
than 100 hours across the entire company and the other reported 200 
hours. Based on this information, the Department is confident that it 
is the business practices of the particular applicant that resulted in 
the extraordinary investment of time in completing the application, and 
not the application itself or the Department's implementation of the 
SAFETY Act.
    The Department agrees that some of the financial information 
requested in the existing Application kit is not essential to the 
evaluation of every application. The Department has decided to limit 
the amount of financial information requested as part of the initial 
submission and to supplement

[[Page 72208]]

the information as needed throughout the evaluation process. The 
revised Application Kit reflects these changes.

Certifying ``Accuracy and Completeness''

    Two commenters expressed the opinion that it is unreasonable to 
require applicants to certify the application as ``accurate and 
complete'' under penalty of perjury when some of the questions require 
the applicant provide answers on a ``best guess'' basis. In particular, 
the answers to the questions related to threat estimates, potential 
casualties, and potential casualty reductions were cited as questions 
whose answers may be essentially unknowable.
    The Department agrees that it would be unreasonable to expect 
applicants to certify the accuracy of their speculative or predictive 
estimates of future events and risks, and does not believe that the 
application requires such a certification. The language of the 
certification is qualified by the phrase ``to the best of my knowledge 
and belief.'' Since the Applicant either knows, or is able to obtain, 
accurate factual information about the Applicant's ATT and business 
enterprise, the Department believes the certification is appropriate to 
factual information. Conversely, since estimates are by definition not 
factual information, the Department believes the certification only 
requires that estimates be provided in good faith with a reasonable 
belief they are as accurate as possible at the time of submission. The 
Department believes this burden is easily met if the Applicant provides 
sufficient additional information to allow the Department to understand 
the basis for the estimate, including both a description of the 
assumptions utilized and the analytical process applied. Nevertheless, 
the language of the Certification has been changed in the new 
application to clarify the distinction and make clear that only factual 
information is being certified as true and correct.

Bias Toward Product-based ATTs

    Despite the assurances of the Interim Rule, particularly in the 
responses to comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, four 
commenters thought that the language of the Rule and of the Application 
Kit implicitly assumed product-like ATTs. The commenters seemed 
particularly concerned about the wording of the Application Kit.
    While the Department is aware that some of the language in the 
prior version appears biased towards products, the Department believes 
this version adequately addresses this objection. In particular, the 
revised Application Kit makes clear that design services, integration 
services, consulting services, engineering services, software 
development, software integration, studies and analyses, threat 
assessments, and so forth are all Technologies under the SAFETY Act.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before February 11, 
2005 to be assured consideration.

ADDRESSES: Science and Technology Directorate, Attn: SAFETY Act, 245 
Murray Drive, Bldg. 410 (RDS), Washington, DC 20528 and Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB), Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for Homeland Security, Room 10235, 
Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin O'Connell, (703) 575-4510 (this 
is not a toll free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Direct all written comments to both the 
Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs at the addresses listed in this notice. A copy of 
the information collection requests with applicable supporting 
documentation may be obtained by calling the contact listed above.
    The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in 
comments which:
    (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) 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;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) 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.

Analysis:

    OMB Number: 1640-0001.
    Title: Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies 
Act of 2002 `` Application for SAFETY Act Benefits.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Affected Public: Business or other for profit and not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 750 respondents.
    Estimated Time per Response: 40-160 hours per response (average = 
100 hours per response).
    Total Burden Hours: 75,000.
    Total Burden Cost: (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost: (operating/maintaining): None.

    OMB Number: 1640-0002.
    Title: Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies 
Act of 2002--Registration of a Seller of Anti-Terrorism Technology 
(DHS-S&T-I-SAFETY-003).
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Affected Public: Business or other for profit, not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,800.
    Estimated Time per Response: 10-30 minutes (average = 20 minutes).
    Total Burden Hours: 600.
    Total Burden Cost: (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost: (operating/maintaining): None.

    OMB Number: 1640-0003.
    Title: Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies 
Act of 2002--Request for Pre-Application Consultation (DHS-S&T-I SAFETY 
004).
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Affected Public: Business or other for profit, not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,500.
    Estimated Time per Response: 4-24 hours (average = 18 hours).
    Total Burden Hours: 27,000.
    Total Burden Cost: (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost: (operating/maintaining): None.

    OMB Number: 1640-0004.
    Title: Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies 
Act of 2002--Application for Modification to SAFETY Act Benefits (DHS-
S&T-I SAFETY 005).
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Affected Public: Business or other for profit, not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 150.
    Estimated Time per Response: 2-12 hours (average = 8).
    Total Burden Hours: 1,200.
    Total Burden Cost: (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost: (operating/maintaining): None.

    OMB Number: 1640-0005.
    Title: Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies 
Act of 2002--Request for Transfer of SAFETY Act Benefits (DHS-S&T-I 
SAFETY 006).

[[Page 72209]]

    Frequency: On occasion.
    Affected Public: Business or other for profit, not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 50.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1-8 hours (average = 6).
    Total Burden Hours: 300.
    Total Burden Cost: (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost: (operating/maintaining): None.

    Description: The SAFETY ACT provides incentives for the development 
and deployment of Anti-Terrorism Technologies (ATTs) by creating a 
system of ``risk management'' and a system of ``litigation 
management.'' The purpose of the SAFETY ACT is to ensure that the 
threat of liability does not deter potential manufacturers or sellers 
of ATTs from developing and commercializing technologies that could 
significantly reduce the risks or mitigate the effects of terrorist 
events. Without these protections, important technologies are not being 
deployed to prevent harm resulting from a terrorist attack.

    Dated: December 7, 2004.
Mark Emery,
Deputy, Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-27272 Filed 12-10-04; 8:45 am]
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