[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9948-9949]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03105]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Docket No. CISA-2020-0005]


60-Day Notice and Request for Comments; New Information 
Collection Request, 1670-NEW: SAFECOM Nationwide Surveys Generic 
Clearance

AGENCY: Emergency Communications Division (ECD), Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Department of Homeland Security 
(DHS).

ACTION: Information collection, request for comments.

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SUMMARY: DHS CISA ECD 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 due by April 19, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number CISA-
2020-0005, 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 
CISA-2020-0005 in the subject line of the message.
     Mail: Written comments and questions about this 
Information Collection Request should be forwarded to DHS/CISA/ECD, 
ATTN: Eric Runnels 1670-NEW, 245 Murray Lane SW, Mail Stop 0613, 
Washington, DC 20598-0609.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the words 
``Department of Homeland Security'' and the docket number for this 
action. Comments received will be posted without alteration at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
    Docket: For access to the docket and comments received, please go 
to www.regulations.gov and enter docket number CISA-2020-0005.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available 
to the public through relevant websites. For this reason, please do not 
include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such as 
sensitive personal information or proprietary information. If you send 
an email comment, your email address will be automatically captured and 
included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and 
made available on the internet. Please note that responses to this 
public comment request containing any routine notice about the 
confidentiality of the communication will be treated as public comments 
that may be made available to the public notwithstanding the inclusion 
of the routine notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Runnels, 703-705-6279, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2006, Congress passed Public Law 109-295, 
which included SEC. 671. EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS also known as the 
``21st Century Emergency Communications Act of 2006''. The legislation 
established the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of 
Emergency Communications, which was re-designated in 2018 as the 
Emergency Communications Division (ECD) within the Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), to lead the development and 
implementation of a comprehensive approach to advancing national 
interoperable communications capabilities.
    The following responsibilities were established:
    6 U.S.C. 571(c) requires the DHS Secretary through the ECD 
Assistant Director to:
    (4) Conduct extensive, nationwide outreach to support and promote 
the ability of emergency response providers and relevant government 
officials to continue to communicate in the event of natural disasters, 
acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters;
    (13) develop and update periodically, as appropriate, a National 
Emergency Communications Plan under section 572 of this title;
    (14) perform such other duties of the Department necessary to 
support and promote the ability of emergency response providers and 
relevant government officials to continue to communicate in the event 
of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters; 
and
    (15) perform other duties of the Department necessary to achieve 
the goal of and maintain and enhance interoperable emergency 
communications capabilities.
    6 U.S.C. 572(a) requires the Secretary in cooperation with State, 
local, and tribal governments, Federal departments and agencies, 
emergency response providers, and the private sector, develop not later 
than 180 days after the completion of the baseline assessment under 
section 573 of this title, and periodically update, a National 
Emergency Communications Plan.
    Lastly, 6 U.S.C. 573 requires the DHS Secretary to conduct an 
assessment of Federal, State, local, and tribal governments that 
defines the range of capabilities needed by emergency response 
providers and relevant government officials, assesses the current 
available capabilities to meet such communications needs; identify the 
gaps between such current capabilities and defined requirements; at 
least every five years.
    These authorities in addition to DHS responsibilities through 
Executive Order 13618 in the area of national security/emergency 
providers' communications require a continuous examination of 
nationwide emergency communications capabilities.
    The frequency and complexity of emergencies are on the rise during 
a time when technology is advancing at a faster pace than any other 
time in history. In order to perform these statutory regulations, it is 
important to understand the continuously changing requirements of 
emergency response providers and government officials at all levels of 
government, evolving risks, and the public safety community's ability 
to integrate new technologies while also preparing for emergent 
technologies. As a result, CISA is seeking a PRA Generic Clearance to 
allow for flexibility in implementing

[[Page 9949]]

surveys that are relevant to the current security environment.
    To meet the statutory requirements of 6 U.S.C. 573, ECD conducts 
the SAFECOM Nationwide Survey every 5 years to assess evolving 
capability needs and gaps and track progress against policy 
initiatives; status of strategic plans; and major industry or market 
shifts affecting the emergency communications capability.
    CISA ECD conducts a web-based survey entitled the SAFECOM 
Nationwide Survey, hereinafter referred to as the SNS. The purpose of 
the survey is to gather information to assess available emergency 
communications capabilities and identify gaps and needs for emergency 
response providers to effectively communicate during all types of 
natural or man-made hazards. CISA ECD uses the information collected to 
complete a statutorily mandated assessment and shares the data with all 
stakeholders that have a role in emergency communications. In order to 
ascertain this information, the SNS deploys four similar surveys across 
the nation to various emergency response disciplines at each level of 
government--federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local. The survey 
solicits responses regarding issues affecting the public safety 
community to determine a jurisdiction's level of operability, 
interoperability and continuity and thus their overall emergency 
communications capability level. CISA ECD analyzes the data collected 
from this general survey to identify major gaps and themes affecting 
emergency communications across levels of government. Additionally, 
this analysis informs the development of supplemental surveys tailored 
to specific needs across the public safety community, as well as future 
iterations of the Nationwide Baseline Communications Assessment (NCBA) 
and National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP).
    The results from the most recent surveys led to major updates to 
the update of the NECP released in September 2019. The NECP sets 
strategic priorities for the entire Nation. Additionally, the current 
collection allowed CISA ECD to share reliable data with emergency 
communications partners at all levels of government which assists them 
with: (1) Statewide Communications Interoperability Plan (SCIP) 
development, (2) Threat and Hazard Identification Risk Analysis (THIRA) 
development, (3) state-level grant programs and guidance, (4) federal 
grant applications assistance, and (5) funding and resource sharing 
strategy development.
    CISA ECD conducts SAFECOM supplemental surveys. The surveys can be 
conducted as focus groups, in-person interviews, web- and paper-based. 
CISA ECD uses the information collected to complete statutorily 
mandated requirements (6 U.S.C. 571(c), 572(a), and 573) and shares the 
data with all stakeholders with a role in emergency communications. In 
order to ascertain this information, the SAFECOM supplemental surveys 
deploy topic-specific or targeted surveys across the nation to various 
emergency response disciplines at each level of government: Federal, 
state, territorial, tribal, and local. The surveys solicit responses 
regarding targeted issues affecting all public safety, emergency 
response communities and/or specific subsets of the SNS population. 
CISA ECD analyzes the data collected from these supplemental surveys to 
identify changing requirements, mitigate risks, and inform the data 
collected from the 5-year Nationwide Survey.
    ECD uses electronic submission to reduce the burden on respondents 
including web-based surveys and assessment tools, such as Survey 
Monkey. Its target audience--mainly first responders--is frequently 
interrupted, have variable schedules, and frequently work long hours. 
Electronic submission provides a more user-friendly interface, provides 
anonymity to the users, ensures the maximum response rate, eliminates 
paper, printing, and postage costs along with the need for data entry.
    We will also utilize alternative submission methods for both the 
SNS and the supplemental surveys. An Adobe PDF-fillable form which can 
be returned via email to [email protected], direct emails with 
questionnaires attached, an in-person surveys, focus-groups, and a 
paper copy that will be mailed directly to the respondent(s) requesting 
a hard copy. The paper copy can be returned either via a prepaid 
envelope, scanned and emailed to [email protected], and/or faxed to CISA 
ECD. We anticipate that .5% of respondents will utilize these 
alternative submission methods.
    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: SAFECOM Nationwide Surveys Generic Clearance.
    OMB Control Number: 1670-NEW.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Affected Public: State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Governments.
    Number of Annualized Respondents: 8,398.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 0.5 hours.
    Total Annualized Burden Hours: 4,199 hours.
    Total Annualized Respondent Opportunity Cost: $168,298.74.
    Total Annualized Respondent Out-of-Pocket Cost: $0.
    Total Annualized Government Cost: $235,863.

Samuel Vazquez,
Acting Chief Information Officer, Department of Homeland Security, 
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
[FR Doc. 2021-03105 Filed 2-16-21; 8:45 am]
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