[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 10 (Friday, January 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4107-4109]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00927]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Docket Number DHS-2021-0004]


Agency Information Collection Activities: COVID-19 Contact 
Tracing, COVID-19 Contact Tracing Scripts, COVID-19 Contact Tracing 
Form

AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

ACTION: 60-day notice and request for comments; extension without 
change of a currently approved collection, 1601-0027.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security, will submit the following 
Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until March 16, 
2021. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.1

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number Docket 
# DHS-1601-0027, at:
    [cir] Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Please follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number Docket # DHS-1601-0027. All comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    COVID-19 Contact Tracing information is necessary to support the 
President's National Guidelines for all phases of Opening Up America 
Again. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) M-20-23Memorandum for 
Heads of Executive Department requires employers to develop and 
implement policies and procedures for workforce contact tracing 
following an employee's COVID-19 positive test. The M-20-23 Memorandum 
requires symptomatic Federal employees and contractors to follow their 
Agency's process if they are symptomatic or test positive for COVID-19. 
It specifies that the agency processes should protect the anonymity and 
privacy of Federal employees and contractors, to the extent possible, 
while disclosing only the information necessary for agencies to take 
appropriate actions of notifying potentially affected employees and 
cleaning the facility. Additionally, per the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention guidance entitled Get and Keep America Open, 
COVID-19 Contact Tracing is essential to reduce the spread of COVID-19. 
Furthermore, in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic, public health 
leaders are calling for communities around the country to ramp up 
capacity and implement a massive contact tracing effort to control 
spread of the Coronavirus. The response and recovery from the effect of 
COVID-19 will continue to present Federal agencies with unprecedented 
challenges, as well as opportunities for improvement, that require new 
processes and practices such as COVID-19 Contact Tracing to keep the 
workforce and the public safe. As DHS plans to reconstitute the 
workforce, it is

[[Page 4108]]

essential to have an internal DHS Contact Tracing Program that protects 
the workforce and our families by preventing further spread of COVID-
19.
    Note: In the following responses the term employee is used to 
include federal employee, contractor, detailee, volunteer, and intern.

Authority

    DHS is authorized to collect the information pursuant to Section 
319 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 274d); DHS Chief 
Medical Officer's authorities pursuant to 6 U.S.C. 350 and 6 U.S.C. 
597; 6 U.S.C. 464; 21 U.S.C. 360bbb-3; 40 U.S.C. 1315; 42 U.S.C. 97; 
American with Disabilities Act, including 42 U.S.C. 12112(d)(3), 29 CFR 
1630.2(r), 1630.14(b), (c) Workforce safety federal requirements, 
including the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Executive 
Order 12196, 5 U.S.C. 7902; 29 U.S.C. Chapter 15 (e.g., 29 U.S.C. 668), 
29 CFR part 1904, 29 CFR 1910.1020, and 29 CFR 1960.66.
    This is a new collection for the agency. The contract tracing 
process is triggered when an employee voluntarily self-reports to their 
supervisor that they are COVID-19 positive. The supervisor will provide 
the employee's name and contact information to a DHS Supervisory 
Contact Tracer. The Supervisory Contact tracer will assign a Contact 
Tracer to contact and interview the COVID-19 positive employee and 
obtain a list of employees the COVID-19 positive employee was in close 
contact with, as well as locations in the DHS worksite that the COVID-
19 positive employee visited for 15 minutes or more. The Contact Tracer 
will call the exposed employees to inform them that were exposed by a 
DHS COVID-19 positive employee so they can take appropriate precautions 
in minimizing exposure to other DHS personnel and speak with their 
supervisor to discuss their work status. The contact tracer will not 
disclose the name or any other personally identifiable information 
regarding the COVID-19 positive employee to the exposed employees. The 
contact tracer will inform the exposed employee to notify their 
supervisor, contracting company (contractors only), medical provider, 
and local public health authorities to get instructions. The purpose of 
contact tracing is to control the spread of COVID-19 in the workforce.
    The following information will be collected from the respondent:

--Name (first and last)
--COVID-19 lab test result
--Component Name
--Office address
--Personal phone number (Mobile or Home)
--Work phone number
--Work email address
--Where is your primary site of work (e.g., department, floor, field 
desk location)
--Supervisor Name (First and Last)
--Supervisor's Phone Number
--Supervisor's Email
--All activities, floors visited in the DHS work site, meeting attended 
(including lunches, etc.) that the COVID-19 positive employee 
participated in starting 48 hours before their first COVID-19 symptoms 
began
--Last date worked in a DHS worksite
--Names (first and last) of federal employees, contractors, detailees, 
interns, volunteers who the COVID-19 positive employee was in close 
contact with, along with the close contacts' work email addresses, work 
phone numbers, and the last dates of contact.

    The collection of information will be automated using Service Now, 
the existing DHS Information Technology Help desk ticketing platform. 
Service Now will be modified to be used as the COVID-19 reporting tool. 
The COVID-19 positive employee will voluntarily inform their supervisor 
that they are COVID-19 positive. The COVID-19 positive employee or 
their supervisor will create a new ticket in the COVID-19 reporting 
tool and include locations in the office that they were in for 15 
minutes or more (to initiate facility cleaning) and names of employees 
they were in close contact with for 15 minutes or more (to identify 
exposed individuals to notify). The COVID-19 reporting tool will create 
a ticket and route this to the employee's supervisor and the 
supervisory contract tracer. The supervisory contact tracer will assign 
the case (ticket) to the contact tracer. The contact tracer will call 
the COVID-19 positive employee to verify information submitted by the 
employee. The Contact Tracer will call the exposed employees to inform 
them that were exposed to a DHS COVID-19 positive employee so they can 
take appropriate precautions in minimizing exposure to other DHS 
personnel and speak with their supervisor to discuss their work status 
as detailed in response #2.
    The basis of the decision for adopting Service Now as a contact 
tracing reporting/collection tool are: Service now is an existing 
operating system with an approved Authority to Operate and is in 
accordance with DHS IT policies, procedures, and controls. Using 
information technology helps to streamline the process, adds 
uniformity, and reduces the burden on the contact tracer. The system 
includes an active directory for all DHS personnel, and contains the 
data collection, routing, reporting, and tracking capability required 
to automate contact tracing reporting, case (ticket) assignment and 
disposition.
    This information collection request will not impact small 
businesses or other small entities.
    In response to the Coronavirus Pandemic, public health leaders are 
calling for communities around the country to ramp up capacity and 
implement a massive contact tracing effort to control spread of the 
Coronavirus. The response and recovery from the effect of COVID-19 will 
continue to present Federal agencies with unprecedented challenges, as 
well as opportunities for improvement, that require new processes and 
practices such as COVID-19 Contact Tracing to keep the workforce and 
the public safe. As DHS plans to reconstitute the workforce, it is 
essential to have an internal DHS Contact Tracing Program that protects 
the workforce and our families. It is also essential to comply with 
requirements in the President's National Guidelines for all phases of 
Opening Up America Again, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) M-
20-23 Memorandum for Heads of Executive Department, the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention guidance entitled Get and Keep America 
Open, and for DHS to fulfill its overall mission. If DHS does not 
establish an internal COVID-19 Contact Tracing program capable of 
quickly identifying, isolating, tracking, and being aware of potential 
office outbreaks and workforce exposures, COVID-19 can unknowingly 
spread throughout the DHS workspace and negatively impact mission 
readiness and National Security.
    As required by the COVID-19 Contact Tracing Script, the Contact 
Tracer is required to read the following statement at the beginning of 
the call with each respondent:

``Before we begin, I would like to provide you with the following 
privacy notice: DHS is requesting information as part of this call for 
the purpose of maintaining and ensuring a healthy workforce and a safe 
DHS workspace. Further, this information will help the Department in 
slowing down the spread of COVID-19 by notifying those individuals who 
may have been exposed to the disease so that they can take appropriate 
precautions in minimizing exposure to other DHS personnel and DHS-
affiliated personnel. As such, DHS may use the information

[[Page 4109]]

I collect from you to provide notifications to other potentially 
exposed personnel. No personally identifiable information will be 
shared on you to those personnel in an identifiable format. However, 
information contained from this call may be shared with my supervisory 
contact tracer to ensure data is appropriately collected. In addition, 
if you report symptoms of COVID-19, this information may be shared with 
your supervisor so that he or she may work with you on your work 
status. Further, no personally identifiable information collected from 
this call will be shared outside of DHS. This collection is voluntary. 
However, your participation is requested because contact tracing is a 
key strategy for preventing further spread of COVID-19.''

The following Privacy Notice is Imprinted on the COVID-19 Contact 
Tracing Script and Form

WARNING: This document is FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (FOUO). It contains 
information that may be exempt from public release under the Freedom of 
Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C 552a). It 
is to be controlled, stored, handled, transmitted, distributed, and 
disposed of in accordance with DHS policy relating to FOUO information 
and is not to be released to the public or other personnel who do not 
have a valid ``need-to-know'' without prior approval of an authorized 
DHS official.

The Following Privacy Act Statement Is for the Service Now COVID-19 
Contact Tracing Reporting Tool

Contact Tracing Privacy Act Statement

    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(3), this Privacy Act Statement serves 
to inform you of why DHS is requesting the information that will be 
collected by this information system.

Authority

    DHS is authorized to collect the information pursuant to Section 
319 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 274d); DHS Chief 
Medical Officer's authorities pursuant to 6 U.S.C. 350 and 6 U.S.C. 
597; 6 U.S.C. 464; 21 U.S.C. 360bbb-3; 40 U.S.C. 1315; 42 U.S.C. 97; 
American with Disabilities Act, including 42 U.S.C. 12112(d)(3)(B), 29 
CFR 602.14, 1630.2(r), 1630.14(b)(1), (c)(1), (d)(4); Medical 
Examinations for Fitness for Duty Requirements, including 5 CFR part 
339; Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), including 42 
U.S.C. Chapter 21f, 29 CFR part 1635; Workforce safety federal 
requirements, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 
Executive Order 12196, 5 U.S.C. 7902; 29 U.S.C. Chapter 15 (e.g., 29 
U.S.C. 668), 29 CFR part 1904, 29 CFR 1910.1020, and 29 CFR 1960.66.

Purpose

    DHS will be collecting the information for the purpose of 
maintaining and ensuring a healthy workforce and a safe DHS workspace. 
This information will help the Department to prevent the spread of 
infectious disease by notifying those individuals who may have been 
exposed so they can take appropriate precautions in minimizing exposure 
to other DHS personnel and DHS-affiliated personnel.

Routine Uses

    The information will not be shared externally or with any third 
parties. It will only be used by the DHS Component or Office who 
employs the individual about whom the information will be collected. 
Further, no personally identifiable information will be shared with 
anyone other than the individual's supervisor and the assigned contact 
tracer. A complete list of routine uses for the information this system 
will collect can be found in the system of records notice associated 
with the system ``Office of Personnel Management/GOVT--10--Employee 
Medical File System Records.'' The Department's full list of system of 
records notices can be found on the Department's website at http://www.dhs.gov/system-records-notices-sorns.

Consequences of Failure To Provide Information

    Providing information via this system is completely voluntary and 
no adverse action will be taken against individuals who refuse to 
participate. However, participation is requested because contact 
tracing is a key strategy in preventing further spread of infectious 
disease among the DHS workforce.
    The Contact Tracer is required to sign a DHS non-Disclosure 
Agreement and take the following DHS Training--Privacy and Protecting 
Personal Information, IT Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior, 
Cybersecurity Awareness and one of the following Contact Tracer 
Trainings offered by the Michigan Department of Public Health Michigan 
Department of Public Health https://www.train.org/wv/course/1091008/. 
Additional contact tracing will be available from the Association of 
State and Territorial Health Officials https://learn.astho.org/p/ContactTracer and Johns Hopkins University https://www.coursera.org/learn/covid-19-contact-tracing?action=enroll&edocomorp=covid-19-contact-tracing.
    The Supervisory Contact Tracer is required to review a minimum of 
10% of interview calls with Contact Tracers to ensure comprehensive and 
high-quality interviews and compliance with privacy and 
confidentiality.
    Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments 
reporting in Items 13 or 14 of the OMB Form 83-I.
    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

    Agency: Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
    Title: COVID-19 CONTACT TRACING.
    OMB Number: 1601-0027.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Affected Public: Affected Public.
    Number of Respondents: 500.
    Estimated Time Per Respondent: 1.
    Total Burden Hours: 167.

Robert Dorr,
Acting Executive Director, Business Management Directorate.
[FR Doc. 2021-00927 Filed 1-14-21; 8:45 am]
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