[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61312-61317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27519]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
[Docket No. DHS-2017-0037]
Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Personnel Surety
Program
AGENCY: National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), Department
of Homeland Security (DHS).
ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for comments; revision of information
collection request: 1670-0029.
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SUMMARY: The DHS NPPD Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP),
Infrastructure Security Compliance Division (ISCD) will submit the
following Information Collection Request to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The purpose of this notice is to
solicit comments during a 60-day public comment period prior to the
submission of this ICR to OMB. The submission describes the nature of
the information collection, the categories of respondents, the
estimated burden (in hours), and the estimated burden cost necessary to
implement the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS)
Personnel Surety Program. In this notice, DHS is updating the burden
estimate and expanding the collection to include Tier 3 and Tier 4
high-risk chemical facilities.
DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until February 26,
2018.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number DHS-
2017-0037, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Please follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Email: [email protected]. Please include docket number DHS-
2017-0037 in the subject line of the message.
Mail: Written comments and questions about this
Information Collection Request should be forwarded to DHS/NPPD/IP/ISCD,
ATTN: 1670-0029, 245 Murray Lane SW, Mail Stop 0610, Arlington, VA
20528-0610.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the words
``Department of Homeland Security'' and docket number DHS-2017-0059.
Comments received will be posted without alteration at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
Comments that include trade secrets, confidential commercial or
financial information, Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information
(CVI),\1\ Sensitive Security Information (SSI),\2\ or Protected
Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) \3\ should not be submitted
to the public regulatory docket. Please submit such comments separately
from other comments in response to this notice. Comments containing
trade secrets, confidential commercial or financial information, CVI,
SSI, or PCII should be appropriately marked and packaged in accordance
with applicable requirements and submitted by mail to the DHS/NPPD/IP/
ISCD CFATS Program Manager at the Department of Homeland Security, 245
Murray Lane SW, Mail Stop 0610, Arlington, VA 20528-0610. Comments must
be identified by docket number DHS-2017-0037.
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\1\ For more information about CVI see 6 CFR 27.400 and the CVI
Procedural Manual at www.dhs.gov/publication/safeguarding-cvi-manual.
\2\ For more information about SSI see 49 CFR part 1520 and the
SSI Program web page at www.tsa.gov/for-industry/sensitive-security-information.
\3\ For more information about PCII see 6 CFR part 29 and the
PCII Program web page at www.dhs.gov/pcii-program.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to
collection activities, please contact Amy Graydon at (866)323-2957 or
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at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 18, 2014, the President signed
into law the Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist
Attacks Act of 2014 (``CFATS Act of 2014'') providing long-term
authorization for the CFATS program. The CFATS Act of 2014 codified the
DHS authority to implement the CFATS program into the Homeland Security
Act of 2002. See 6 U.S.C. 621 et seq.
Section 550 of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations
Act of 2007, Public Law 109-295 (2006) (``Section 550''), provided (and
the CFATS Act of 2014 continues to provide) the Department with the
authority to identify and regulate the security of high-risk chemical
facilities using a risk-based approach. On April 9, 2007, the
Department issued the CFATS Interim Final Rule (IFR), implementing this
statutory mandate. See 72 FR 17688.
Section 550 required (and the CFATS Act of 2014 continues to
require) that the Department establish risk-based
[[Page 61313]]
performance standards (RBPS) for high-risk chemical facilities. Through
the CFATS regulations, the Department promulgated 18 RBPS. Each
chemical facility that has been finally determined by the Department to
be high-risk must submit, for Department approval, a Site Security Plan
(SSP) or an Alternative Security Program (ASP), whichever the high-risk
chemical facility so chooses, that satisfies each applicable RBPS. RBPS
12 requires high-risk chemical facilities to perform appropriate
background checks on and ensure appropriate credentials for facility
personnel, and, as appropriate, unescorted visitors with access to
restricted areas or critical assets. RBPS 12(iv) specifically requires
high-risk chemical facility to implement measures designed to identify
people with terrorist ties. For the purposes of the CFATS Personnel
Surety Program, `people' in RBPS 12(iv) is in reference to affected
individuals (i.e., facility personnel or unescorted visitors with or
seeking access to restricted areas or critical assets at high-risk
chemical facilities).
Identifying affected individuals who have terrorist ties is an
inherently governmental function and requires the use of information
held in government-maintained databases that are unavailable to high-
risk chemical facilities. See 72 FR 17688, 17709 (April 9, 2007). Thus,
under RBPS 12(iv), the Department and high-risk chemical facilities
must work together to satisfy the ``terrorist ties'' aspect of the
Personnel Surety performance standard.
In accordance with the Homeland Security Act of 2002 as amended by
the Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks
Act of 2014, Public Law 113-254, the following options are available to
enable high-risk chemical facilities to facilitate the vetting of
affected individuals for terrorist ties:
Option 1. High-risk chemical facilities may submit certain
information about affected individuals, which the Department will use
to vet those individuals for terrorist ties. Specifically, the
identifying information about affected individuals will be compared
against identifying information of known or suspected terrorists
contained in the Federal Government's consolidated and integrated
terrorist watch list, the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), which is
maintained by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) in the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC).\4\
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\4\ For more information about the TSDB, see DOJ/FBI-019
Terrorist Screening Records System, last published in full as 77 FR
26580 (May 25, 2017).
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Option 2. High-risk chemical facilities may submit information
about affected individuals who already possess certain credentials or
documentation that rely on security threat assessments conducted by the
Department. This will enable the Department to verify the continuing
validity of these credentials or documentation.
Option 3. High-risk chemical facilities may comply with RBPS 12(iv)
without submitting to the Department information about affected
individuals who possess Transportation Worker Identification
Credentials (TWICs), if a high-risk chemical facility electronically
verifies and validates the affected individual's TWICs through the use
of TWIC readers (or other technology that is periodically updated using
the Canceled Card List).
Option 4. High-risk chemical facilities may visually verify certain
credentials or documents that are issued by a Federal screening program
that periodically vets enrolled individuals against the TSDB. The
Department continues to believe that visual verification has
significant security limitations and, accordingly, encourages high-risk
chemical facilities choosing this option to identify in their SSPs the
means by which they plan to address these limitations.
In addition to the options described above for satisfying RBPS
12(iv), a high-risk chemical facility is welcome to propose alternative
or supplemental options in its SSP that are not described in this
document. The Department will assess the adequacy of such alternative
or supplemental options on a facility-by-facility basis in the course
of evaluating each facility's SSP.
Under Option 3 and Option 4, a high-risk chemical facility would
not need to submit information about an affected individual to the
Department. These Options are only mentioned in this notice for
informational purposes, and there will be no analysis of Option 3 and
Option 4 in this information collection request.
This information collection request does not propose changes to who
qualifies as an affected individual. There are certain groups of
persons that the Department does not consider to be affected
individuals, such as (1) Federal officials that gain unescorted access
to restricted areas or critical assets as part of their official
duties; (2) State and local law enforcement officials that gain
unescorted access to restricted areas or critical assets as part of
their official duties; and (3) emergency responders at the State or
local level that gain unescorted access to restricted areas or critical
assets during emergency situations.
The current information collection for CFATS Personnel Surety
Program (IC 1670-0029) will expire on August 31, 2018.\5\
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\5\ The current information collection for CFATS Personnel
Surety Program may be found at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201312-1670-001.
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Summary of Proposed Revisions to the Information Collection
The Department is seeking a revision to the CFATS Personnel Surety
Program Information Collection to: (1) Obtain approval to collect
information about affected individuals from all high-risk chemical
facilities rather than only Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical
facilities; (2) update the estimated number of annual respondents from
195,000 to 72,607 based on historical information collected since the
Department implemented the CFATS Personnel Surety Program; and (3)
update the estimated time per respondent from 0.58 hours to 0.1667
hours based upon historical data collected by the Department since the
implantation of the CFATS Personnel Surety Program.
Collection at all High-Risk Chemical Facilities
In response to multiple comments on the current ICR, the Department
agreed to a ``phased implementation'' of the CFATS Personnel Surety
Program to Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical facilities. Based on
lessons learned and the near completion of the implementation at Tier 1
and Tier 2 high-risk chemical facilities, the Department now seeks to
close the last security gap by implementing CFATS Personnel Surety
Program at all high-risk chemical facilities. As implemented at Tier 1
and Tier 2 high-risk chemical facilities, the Department will roll out
the CFATS Personnel Surety Program in a ``phased implementation'' to
Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical facilities.
Updates to Burden Estimate Based on Historical Information
The Department implemented the CFATS Personnel Surety Program in
December 2015. Since implementation, the Department has evaluated many
of the assumptions it used when estimating the burden estimate of this
Information Collection. As a result, several of the assumptions can be
[[Page 61314]]
revised using actual data rather than assumptions. The burden
methodology and revised estimates are described in, ``The Department's
Methodology in Estimating the Burden for CFATS Personnel Surety Program
Information Collection.''
Information Collected About Affected Individuals
This information collection request does not propose changes to the
information collected on affected individuals.
Option 1: Collecting Information To Conduct Direct vetting
If high-risk chemical facilities select Option 1 to satisfy RBPS
12(iv) for an affected individual, the following information about the
affected individual would be submitted to the Department:
For U.S. Persons (U.S. citizens and nationals, as well as
U.S. lawful permanent residents):
[cir] Full Name;
[cir] Date of Birth; and
[cir] Citizenship or Gender.
For Non-U.S. Persons:
[cir] Full Name;
[cir] Date of Birth;
[cir] Citizenship; and
[cir] Passport information and/or alien registration number.
To reduce the likelihood of false positives in matching against
records in the Federal Government's consolidated and integrated
terrorist watch list, high-risk chemical facilities would also be able
to submit the following optional information about an affected
individual to the Department:
Aliases;
Gender (for Non-U.S. Persons);
Place of Birth; and/or
Redress Number.\6\
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\6\ For more information about Redress Numbers, please go to
http://www.dhs.gov/one-stop-travelers-redress-process#1.
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High-risk chemical facilities have the option to create and use the
following field(s) to collect and store additional information to
assist with the management of an affected individual's records. Any
information collected in this field will not be used to support vetting
activities.
User Defined Field(s)
Table 1 summarizes the biographic data that would be submitted to
the Department under Option 1.
Table 1--Required and Optional Data for an Affected Individual Under
Option 1
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Data elements submitted to the For a non-U.S.
department For a U.S. person person
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Full Name....................... Required.
Date of Birth................... Required.
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Gender.......................... Must provide Optional.
Citizenship or
Gender.
Citizenship..................... .................. Required.
Passport Information and/or N/A............... Required.
Alien Registration Number.
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Aliases......................... Optional.
Place of Birth.................. Optional.
Redress number.................. Optional.
User Defined Field(s)........... Optional (Not used for vetting
purposes).
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Option 2: Collecting Information To Use Vetting Conducted Under Other
DHS Programs
In lieu of submitting information to the Department under Option 1
for vetting of terrorist ties, high-risk chemical facilities also have
the option, where appropriate, to submit information to the Department
to electronically verify that an affected individual is currently
enrolled in another DHS program that vets for terrorist ties.
To verify an affected individual's enrollment in one of these
programs under Option 2, the Department would collect the following
information about the affected individual:
Full Name;
Date of Birth; and
Program-specific information or credential information,
such as expiration date, unique number or issuing entity (e.g., State
for Commercial Driver's License [CDL] associated with a Hazardous
Materials Endorsement [HME]).
To reduce the likelihood of false positives, high-risk chemical
facilities may also submit the following optional information about an
affected individual to the Department:
Aliases;
Gender;
Place of Birth; and/or
Citizenship.
High-risk chemical facilities have the option to create and use the
following field(s) to collect and store additional information to
assist with the management of an affected individual's records. Any
information collected in this field will not be used to support vetting
activities.
User Defined Field(s)
Table 2 summarizes the biographic data that would be submitted to
the Department under Option 2.
Table 2--Required and Optional Data for an Affected Individual Under
Option 2
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Data Elements Submitted to the Department
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Full Name................................. Required.
Date of Birth............................. Required.
Program-specific information or credential Required.
information, such as expiration date,
unique number, or issuing entity.
Aliases................................... Optional.
Gender.................................... Optional.
Place of Birth............................ Optional.
Citizenship............................... Optional.
User Defined Field(s)..................... Optional (Not used for
vetting purposes).
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Other Information Collected
The Department may also contact a high-risk chemical facility or
its designees to request additional
[[Page 61315]]
information (e.g., visa information) pertaining to an affected
individual in order to clarify suspected data errors or resolve
potential matches (e.g., an affected individual has a common name).
Such requests will not imply, and should not be construed to indicate,
that an affected individual's information has been confirmed as a match
to a record of an individual with terrorist ties.
The Department may also collect information provided by individuals
or high-risk chemical facilities in support of any adjudication
requests under Subpart C of the CFATS regulation,\7\ or in support of
any other redress requests.\8\
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\7\ See 6 CFR 27.300 et seq.
\8\ More information about access, correction, and redress
requests under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act
can be found in Section 7.0 of the Privacy Impact Assessment for the
CFATS Personnel Surety Program, dated May 4, 2011, available at
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy-pia-nppd-cfats-2011.pdf.
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Request For Exception To The Requirement Under 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3)
The Department is requesting from OMB an exception for the CFATS
Personnel Surety Program to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) notice
requirement contained in 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3), which requires Federal
agencies to ensure that their information collections provide certain
reasonable notices under the PRA to affected individuals. If this
exception is granted, the Department will be relieved of the potential
obligation to require high-risk chemical facilities to collect
signatures or other positive affirmations of these notices from
affected individuals, which would increase burdens.
Whether or not this exception is granted, high-risk chemical
facilities must affirm the required privacy notice regarding the
collection of personal information has been provided to affected
individuals before personal information is submitted to the Department.
The Department's Methodology in Estimating the Burden for CFATS
Personnel Surety Program Information Collection Number of Respondents
For the purpose of this collection, the number of respondents is
broken down into two groups: ``initial respondents'' and ``annual
respondents.''
The ``initial respondents'' are those affected individuals with
existing access at a high-risk chemical facility and will be submitted
by the facility after receiving authorization or approval of an SSP
requiring the facility to implement measures to comply with RBPS
12(iv). All new burdens associated with initial respondents under this
collection will be for Tier 3 and Tier 4 facilities as discussed later
in this notice under ``(A) Initial Respondents,'' Tier 1 and Tier 2
facilities have already submitted initial respondents to the CFATS
Personnel Surety Program under the current collection. The burden for
``initial respondents'' is estimated in this notice under ``Total
Burden Cost (Capital/Startup)'' because the burden imposed by initial
respondent submission on high-risk chemical facilities is a one-time
cost.
``Annual respondents'' are the number of respondents the Department
estimates will be submitted each year by high-risk chemical facilities
that have completed the initial respondent's submission and are now in
the maintenance phase (e.g., adding new affected individuals due to
employee hires).
(A) Initial Respondents
The estimated number of high-risk chemical facilities and the
average number of respondents is based on historical data collected by
the Department since the implementation of the CFATS Personnel Surety
Program. The Department estimates that under this collection there are
(a) 200 Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical facilities that will have
to submit information about affected individuals under the current ICR,
and (b) 3,700 Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical facilities that will
submit for the first time under this new collection. Historically, each
Authorizer submitted, on average, 180 initial respondents, with each
Authorizer responsible for 1.7 high-risk chemical facilities. Dividing
180 affected individuals per Authorizer by 1.7 high-risk chemical
facilities results in an average of 106 initial respondents submitted
per high-risk chemical facility.
Additionally, the Department recognizes that high-risk chemical
facilities that are high risk for a release security issue may take a
facility-wide approach rather than an asset-based approach in defining
their restricted areas, which may result in a higher number of affected
individuals. Therefore, the Department reviewed the number of release
sites to ensure the estimated number of respondents for the Tier 3 and
Tier 4 high-risk chemical facilities were comparable to the historical
data received by the Department since the implementation of the CFATS
Personnel Surety Program. The Department found that the release
security issues for Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical facilities
made up 38% of the total Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical facility
population. For the Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical facilities,
the release security issue made up 25% of the total Tier 3 and Tier 4
high-risk chemical facility population. Based on these findings, the
Department was satisfied that the Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical
facility historical data provided a valid representation of what the
Department can expect from the Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical
facilities.
Under the current collection, approximately 21,200 initial
respondents for Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical facilities (200
high-risk Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical facilities with an
average of 106 initial respondents per high-risk chemical facility)
will or have been submitted to the CFATS Personnel Surety Program. The
Department assumes that there are no additional burdens associated with
initial respondents for Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical facilities
under this collection because they have already submitted the initial
respondents under the current collection.
As described above, the Department intends to implement the CFATS
Personnel Surety Program at all high-risk chemical facilities, which
will require Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical facilities to submit
information about affected individuals under the CFATS Personnel Surety
Program or to select Option 3 or 4 for CFATS Personnel Surety Program
participation that do not involve submission of information to the
Department. However, for burden estimates, the Department assumes all
Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical facilities will select option 1
and/or option 2, which both require information submission. As these
high-risk chemical facilities have not previously submitted, all 3,700
Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical facilities would be required to
submit initial respondents to the CFATS Personnel Surety Program.
The Department intends to implement the CFATS Personnel Surety
Program at Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical facilities in a phased
implementation so that the estimated 3,700 Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk
chemical facilities are evenly distributed over three years (i.e.,
1,233 high-risk chemical facilities each year for three years). This
results in an estimated 130,698 initial respondents each year (1,233
high-risk chemical facilities multiplied by 106 submissions per high-
risk chemical facility) from Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical
facilities.
[[Page 61316]]
(B) Annual Respondents
The Department estimates the annual respondents based on the annual
hires rates of 47.8% for total private industry, as estimated from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).\9\ Annual hires are used to account
for the replacement of employee separations as well as new hires. In
the first year of this collection, the Department applies the hires
rate to the initial submission of affected individuals submitted from
Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical facilities under the current
collection for the CFATS Personnel Surety Program. In the second and
third year of this collection, the Department applies the hires rate to
the subsequent total population of affected individuals submitted under
the CFATS Personnel Surety Program (i.e., the Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-
risk chemical facilities' initial submissions plus the initial
submissions received from Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical
facilities).
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\9\ https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/jolts_03162017.pdf
Table 14
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The breakdown of the annual hires for each year of the information
collection request is as follows:
In year one, the number of hires is 10,134 respondents
(i.e., 21,200 Tier 1 and Tier 2 initial respondents multiplied by the
hires rate of 47.8%).\10\
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\10\ Numbers may not total due to rounding of estimates in the
text.
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In year two, the number of hires is 72,607 respondents
(i.e., 72,607 Tier 1 and Tier 2 initial respondents plus the number of
initial respondents submitted by Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical
facilities in year one [130,698 affected individuals] multiplied by the
hires rate of 47.8%).
In year three, the number of hires is 135,081 respondents
(i.e., 21,200 Tier 1 and Tier 2 initial respondents plus the number of
initial respondents submitted by Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical
facilities in years one and two [261,396 affected individuals]
multiplied by the hires rate of 47.8%).
Table 3 presents the annual submissions for the three years.
Table 3--Annual Submissions for Three Years
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Hires
(existing
Initial population of
respondents Existing population of affected affected
(Tier 3 and individuals individuals
Tier 4) multiplied by
47.8%)
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Year 1........................................ 130,698 21,200.......................... 10,134
(Initial Respondents Tier 1 and
Tier 2 from current collection).
Year 2........................................ 130,698 151,898......................... 72,607
(Tier 1 and Tier 2 initial
respondents plus year 1 Tier 3
and Tier 4 initial respondents).
Year 3........................................ 130,698 282,596......................... 135,081
(Tier 1 and Tier 2 initial
respondents plus year 1 and
year 2 Tier 3 and Tier 4
initial respondents.
Average....................................... 130,698 ................................ 72,607
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The number of respondents for the three years was then averaged to
come up with the revised annual respondent rate of 72,607 respondents
per year (i.e., the sum of 10,134 annual respondents in year one, plus
72,607 annual respondents in year two, plus 135,081 annual respondents
in year three, divided by the three years this information collection
request covers).
Estimated Time per Respondent
Based on industry feedback and historical data collected on their
use of the CFATS Personnel Surety Program application, the Department
has estimated the time per respondent to be 5 minutes per submission of
a record about an affected individual rather than 30 minutes previously
estimated in the current collection. The proposed estimated time per
respondent includes the time to edit or remove a record if a high-risk
chemical facility opts to subsequently notify the Department that an
affected individual no longer has access. Since this estimate is based
on current submissions from Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical
facilities, the Department has chosen an estimate of 10 minutes (0.1667
hours) per record to provide a more conservative estimate.
Annual Burden Hours
To estimate the annual burden hours for this collection, the
Department multiplies the number of annual respondents by the estimated
time burden of 0.1667 hours (10 minutes), for an estimated annual
burden of 12,101 hours (i.e., 0.1667 hours multiplied by 72,607 annual
respondents). The one-time burden associated with the submission of
initial respondents is considered below under startup costs.
Total Burden Cost (Capital/Startup)
The Department provides access to the CFATS Personnel Surety
Program application free of charge and assumes that each high-risk
chemical facility already has access to the internet for basic business
needs. In addition to the Tier 1 and Tier 2 high-risk chemical
facilities at which the CFATS Personnel Surety Program has already been
implemented, the Department expects to implement the CFATS Personnel
Surety Program at Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk chemical facilities upon
approval of this collection request. Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk
chemical facilities will have a one-time requirement to submit
information about initial respondents with existing access to the
restricted areas or critical assets at the high-risk chemical facility.
This one-time cost is estimated here as a startup cost. The Department
estimates that under this collection there will be 3,700 Tier 3 and
Tier 4 high-risk chemical facilities that will submit initial
respondents. To estimate initial startup cost, the Department multiples
the number of high-risk chemical facilities by the estimated number of
affected individuals per high-risk chemical facility to obtain the
total number of initial respondents submitted. The estimated number of
initial respondents is 392,094 (i.e., 3,700 Tier 3 and Tier 4 high-risk
chemical facilities multiplied by 106 affected individuals per high-
risk chemical facility).\11\ The startup burden of 65,349 hours is
subsequently
[[Page 61317]]
estimated by multiplying the number of initial respondents by the
estimated time per respondent (i.e., 392,094 affected individuals
multiplied by 0.1667 hours).
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\11\ Values may not total due to rounding.
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The one-time startup cost is estimated by multiplying the startup
burden by the wage rate of the employee type expected to submit the
information about affected individuals to the CFATS Personnel Surety
Program. The site security officer's average hourly wage rate of $78.93
was based on an average hourly wage rate of $53.92 \12\ with a benefits
multiplier of 1.4639.\13\ Therefore the Department estimates the one-
time startup cost of this information request to be $5,158,226 (i.e.,
65,349 hours multiplied by $78.93 per hour).\14\
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\12\ The wage used for an SSO equals that of Managers, All (11-
9199), with a load factor of 1.4639 to account for benefits in
addition to wages https://www.bls.gov/oes/2016/may/oes119199.htm.
\13\ Load factor based on BLS Employer Cost for Employee
Compensation, as of June 9, 2017. Load factor = Employer cost for
employee compensation ($35.28)/wages and salaries ($24.10) = 1.4639
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm.
\14\ Numbers may not total due to rounding.
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Consideration of Other Capital Costs
This information collection request maintains the existing
assumptions found in the current information collection request with
regard to activities listed in 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(1). Specifically, that 5
CFR 1320.3(b)(1) and 5 CFR 1320.8 require the Department to estimate
the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to
generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide information to or for
a Federal agency. Therefore, many costs (e.g., physical modification of
the facility layout) a high-risk chemical facility may choose to incur
to develop or implement its SSP or ASP should not be accounted for when
estimating the capital costs associated with this information
collection.
Furthermore, the Department maintains the same assumptions found in
the current information collection request with regards to estimating
certain high-risk chemical facility capital costs, such as: (1) Capital
costs for computer, telecommunications equipment, software, and storage
to manage the data collection, submissions, and tracking; (2) capital
and ongoing costs for designing, deploying, and operating information
technology (IT) systems necessary to maintain the data collection,
submissions, and tracking; (3) cost of training high-risk chemical
facility personnel to maintain the data collection, submissions, and
tracking; and (4) site security officer time to manage the data
collection, submissions, and tracking. The Department continues to
exclude these costs in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2), which
directs Federal agencies to not count the costs associated with the
time, effort, and financial resources incurred in the normal course of
their activities (e.g., in compiling and maintaining business records)
if the reporting, recordkeeping, or disclosure activities are usual and
customary.
The Department continues to exclude these usual and customary costs
because the time, effort, and financial resources are costs that high-
risk chemical facilities incur to conduct background checks for
identity, criminal history, and legal authorization to work under 6 CFR
27.230(a)(12)(i)-(iii), and also under various other Federal, State, or
local laws or regulations.
Recordkeeping Burden
The recordkeeping costs, if any, to create, keep, or retain records
pertaining to background checks as part of a high-risk chemical
facility's SSP or ASP, are properly estimated in the recordkeeping
estimates associated with the SSP Instrument under Information
Collection 1670-0007.
Total Annual Burden Cost
The 2007 CFATS Regulatory Evaluation assumed that Site Security
Officers are responsible for submitting information to the Department.
For the purpose of this notice, the Department maintains this
assumption.
Therefore, to estimate the total annual burden, the Department
multiplied the annual burden of 12,101 hours by the average hourly wage
rate of Site Security Officers of $78.93 and then added the one-time
startup cost associated with the initial respondents. Therefore, the
total annual burden cost for the CFATS Personnel Surety Program is
$955,191 (12,101 total annual burden hours multiplied by $78.93 per
hour). For the three year period for which this collection will be
approved, the total cost burden would be $8,023,798 ($955,191 annual
cost multiplied by 3 + $5,158,226 startup cost). The annual burden for
this collection over the three year period is estimated at $2,674,599
($8,023,798 total cost/3 years).\15\
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\15\ All calculations may not total due to rounding.
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Solicitation of Comments
OMB is particularly interested in comments that:
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).
Title of Collection: Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards
(CFATS) Personnel Surety Program.
OMB Control Number: 1670-0029.
Instrument: CFATS Personnel Surety Program.
Frequency: ``Other''.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
Number of Annual Respondents: 72,607 respondents (estimate).
Estimated Time per Respondent: 0.1667 hours (10 minutes).
Total Annual Burden Hours: 12,101 hours.
Total Annual Burden Cost (Capital/Startup): $1,719,409.
Total Annual Burden Cost: $955,191.
Total Recordkeeping Burden: $0.
David Epperson,
Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-27519 Filed 12-26-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 910-9P-P