[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 32 (Friday, February 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10332-10334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03404]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Docket No. CISA-2020-0020]


Interoperable Communications and Technical Assistance Program 
(ICTAP) Training Survey

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

ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for comments; NEW information 
collection request, 1670-NEW.

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SUMMARY: The Emergency Communications Division (ECD) within the 
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) 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 April 20, 
2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number CISA-

[[Page 10333]]

2020-0020, 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-2020-0020 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: ICTAP--John Peterson, CISA-NGR STOP 0645, Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Agency, 1110 N Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA 20598-
0645.
    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.
    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: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact John Peterson, [email protected], 
or 202-503-5074.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Emergency Communications Plan 
(NECP) is the Nation's over-arching strategic plan to drive measurable 
improvements in emergency communications across all levels of 
government and disciplines. First released in 2008, the plan is 
periodically updated to reflect the ongoing evolution of emergency 
communications technologies and processes. In support of the NECP, the 
Interoperable Communications and Technical Assistance Program (ICTAP) 
within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) 
Emergency Communications Division (ECD) provides a portfolio of no-cost 
communications technical assistance (TA) to support the implementation 
of the NECP, state's and territories' Statewide Communication 
Interoperability Plans (SCIPs), broadband planning, voice and digital 
network engineering, training, exercise support, and operational 
assessment focused on interoperable emergency communications at all 
levels of government.
    The purpose of the ICTAP Training Survey is to obtain anonymous 
feedback regarding several of the training courses offered by the 
ICTAP. The feedback and experience given by survey respondents will 
assist the ICTAP in improving, revising, and updating the course 
materials for future students. The three courses which the ICTAP would 
like to obtain feedback are for:
     Communications Unit Leader (COML);
     Communications Unit Technician (COMT); and
     Information Technology Service Unit Leader (ITSL)
    COML is designed for all state/territory, tribal, regional, and 
local emergency response professionals and for support personnel with a 
communications background. It is designed to familiarize these 
professionals with the role and responsibilities of a COML under the 
National Incident Management System (NIMS) Incident Command System 
(ICS) and to provide hands-on exercises that reinforce the lecture 
materials. CISA and FEMA Emergency Management Institute (EMI) offer 
this course jointly as ``L0969, NIMS ICS All-Hazards Communications 
Unit Leader Course.'' Under the NIMS ICS structure, a COML is the focal 
point within the Communications Unit. This course provides DHS-approved 
and NIMS-compliant instruction to ensure that every state/territory has 
trained personnel capable of coordinating on-scene emergency 
communications during a multi-jurisdictional response or planned event.
    COML is designed for all state/territory, tribal, regional, and 
local emergency response professionals and for support personnel with a 
communications background. It is designed to familiarize these 
professionals with the role and responsibilities of a COML under the 
National Incident Management System (NIMS) Incident Command System 
(ICS) and to provide hands-on exercises that reinforce the lecture 
materials. CISA and FEMA Emergency Management Institute (EMI) offer 
this course jointly as ``L0969, NIMS ICS All-Hazards Communications 
Unit Leader Course.'' Under the NIMS ICS structure, a COML is the focal 
point within the Communications Unit. This course provides DHS-approved 
and NIMS-compliant instruction to ensure that every state/territory has 
trained personnel capable of coordinating on-scene emergency 
communications during a multi-jurisdictional response or planned event.
    The COMT course provides introductory and refresher training for 
the NIMS ICS COMT position. It introduces public safety professionals 
and support staff to various communications concepts and technologies 
including interoperable communications solutions, LMR communications, 
satellite, telephone, data, and computer technologies used in incident 
response and planned events. It is designed for state/territory, 
tribal, urban, and local emergency response professionals and support 
personnel in all disciplines who have a technical communications 
background. Participants develop the essential core competencies 
required for performing the duties of the COMT in an all-hazards 
incident, including responsibilities while operating in a local, 
regional, or state-level All-Hazards Incident Management Team.
    In 2018 and 2019, ICTAP introduced the ITSL course, and SAFECOM/
National Counsel of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC) 
have coordinated with FEMA National Integration Center (NIC) and other 
organizations focused on public safety communications to establish the 
best way to integrate the ITSL into the ICS. The ITSL is needed to 
provide information management, cybersecurity, and application 
management for the many critical incident/event related functions to 
include: Incident/Unified Command Post, Incident Communications 
Centers, and various tactical operations centers, joint information 
center (JIC), staging areas, and field locations. The ITSL course 
targets Federal, state/territory, tribal, urban, local, and emergency 
response professionals, and support personnel in all disciplines with a 
communications background and an aptitude for and extensive experience 
in information technology. Specifically, the training course provides 
an overview of the ITSL components including Communications/IT Help 
Desk or Unified Help Desk, IT Infrastructure Manager, Network Manager. 
It covers their roles and responsibilities and provides an in-depth 
overview with exercises for the ITSL's major functions, to include 
ensuring reliable and timely delivery of IT services to participating 
agencies and officials.

[[Page 10334]]

    The ICTAP Training Survey will not collect any personal 
identifiable information (PII) from respondents (emergency 
communications stakeholders) of the survey. In collecting feedback 
regarding the ITSL, COML, and COMT courses, the survey will collect 
what state the respondent lives, where they took the course, did the 
course provide the information needed, should the course curriculum be 
updated, and any comments to improve the course material. The survey 
will encompass 10 questions regarding the former student's experience, 
anything that they liked, disliked, or something new that they would 
like to see incorporated into the refreshed class. It is estimated that 
it will take each participant 10 minutes to complete the training 
survey. For 300 respondents annually, the burden is 50 hours. To 
estimate the cost of this collection, CISA uses the mean hourly wage of 
``All Occupations'' of $25.72. CISA then applies a load factor of 
1.4597 to this average wage to obtain a fully loaded average hourly 
wage of $37.54. The total respondent cost burden for this collection is 
$1,877 (50 hours x $37.54).
    This is a NEW collection of information.
    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: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
    Title of Collection: Interoperable Communications and Technical 
Assistance Program (ICTAP) Training Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 1670-NEW.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Affected Public: State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Governments.
    Number of Annualized Respondents: 300.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 10 Minutes.
    Total Annualized Burden Hours: 50 hours.
    Total Annualized Respondent Opportunity Cost: $1,877.16.
    Total Annualized Respondent Out-of-Pocket: $0.
    Total Annualized Government Cost: $4,082.67.

Samuel Vazquez,
Acting Chief Information Officer, Department of Homeland Security, 
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
[FR Doc. 2021-03404 Filed 2-18-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-9P-P