[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 213 (Friday, November 4, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66754-66755]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24099]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; 
Standard Application Process (SAP) Portal

AGENCY: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, 
National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Submission for OMB review; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics 
(NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF) has submitted the 
following information collection requirement to OMB for review and 
clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This is the second 
notice for public comment; the first was published in the Federal 
Register and one comment was received. NCSES is forwarding the proposed 
SAP Portal information collection as a Common Form to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance simultaneously with the 
publication of this second notice. The full submission may be found at: 
http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.

DATES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAmain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance 
Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, 
Alexandria, VA 22314, or send email to [email protected]. Individuals 
who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the 
Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339, which is 
accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (including 
federal holidays). Comments regarding this information collection are 
best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of 
this notification. Copies of the submission(s) may be obtained by 
calling 703-292-7556.
    Comments: Comments regarding (a) whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the NSF, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the NSF's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
use, and clarity of the information on respondents; and (d) ways to 
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 should be addressed to the points 
of contact in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Comment: As required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), comments on the 
information collection activities as part of this study were solicited 
through the publication of a 60-Day Notice in the Federal Register at 
87 FR 53793. NCSES received one comment requesting clarity on the scope 
of the SAP Portal effort and responded to the comment by mentioning 
that the adoption of the SAP is required for statistical agencies and 
units designated under the Confidential Information Protection and 
Statistical Efficiency Act of 2018 (CIPSEA). In addition, NCSES 
mentioned that other agencies and organizational units within the 
Executive branch may, over time, benefit from the adoption of the SAP 
to accept applications for access to confidential data assets.
    NSF may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless 
the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control 
number, and the agency informs potential persons who are to respond to 
the collection of information that such persons are not required to 
respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.
    Title of Collection: Standard Application Process (SAP) Portal.
    OMB Control Number: 3145-NEW.
    Summary of Collection: Title III of the Foundations for Evidence-
Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (hereafter the Evidence Act) mandates 
that OMB establish a Standard Application Process (SAP) for requesting 
access to certain confidential data assets. While the adoption of the 
SAP is required for statistical agencies and units designated under the 
Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 
2018 (CIPSEA), it is recognized that other agencies and organizational 
units within the Executive Branch may benefit from the adoption of the 
SAP to accept applications for access to confidential data assets. The 
SAP is to be a process through which agencies, the Congressional Budget 
Office, State, local, and Tribal governments, researchers, and other 
individuals, as appropriate, may apply to access confidential data 
assets held by a federal statistical agency or unit for the purposes of 
developing evidence. With the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy 
(ICSP) as advisors, the entities upon whom this requirement is levied 
are working with the SAP Project Management Office (PMO) and with OMB 
to implement the SAP. The SAP Portal is to be a single web-based common 
application designed to collect information from individuals requesting 
access to confidential data assets from federal statistical agencies 
and units.
    This information collection request is on behalf of the following 
federal statistical agencies and units, which may use the Common Form:

 Bureau of Economic Analysis (Department of Commerce)
 Bureau of Justice Statistics (Department of Justice)
 Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor)
 Bureau of Transportation Statistics (Department of 
Transportation)
 Census Bureau (Department of Commerce)
 Economic Research Service (Department of Agriculture)
 Energy Information Administration (Department of Energy)
 National Agricultural Statistics Service (Department of 
Agriculture)
 National Center for Education Statistics (Department of 
Education)
 National Center for Health Statistics (Department of Health 
and Human Services)
 National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics 
(National Science Foundation)
 Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics (Social 
Security Administration)
 Statistics of Income Division (Internal Revenue Service)
 Microeconomic Surveys Unit (Federal Reserve Board)

[[Page 66755]]

 Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality 
(Department of Health and Human Services)
 National Animal Health Monitoring System (Department of 
Agriculture)

    The objective of the SAP Portal is to broaden access to 
confidential data for the purposes of evidence building and reduce the 
burden of applying for confidential data, which currently involves 
separate processes with each of the federal statistical agencies and 
units. The new process will be implemented while maintaining stringent 
controls to protect confidentiality and privacy, as required by law.
    The following bullets outline the major components and processes in 
and around the SAP Portal.
     SAP Policy: At the recommendation of the ICSP, the SAP 
Policy establishes the SAP to be implemented by statistical agencies 
and units and incorporates directives from the Evidence Act. The SAP 
Policy was submitted to the public for comment in January 2022 (87 FR 
2459). The policy is currently under review and has not yet been 
finalized.
     The SAP Portal: The SAP Portal is an application interface 
connecting applicants seeking data with a catalog of metadata for data 
assets owned by the federal statistical agencies and units. The SAP 
Portal is not a new data repository or warehouse; confidential data 
assets will continue to be stored in secure data access facilities 
owned and hosted by the federal statistical agencies and units. The 
Portal will provide a streamlined application process across agencies, 
reducing redundancies in the application process. This single SAP 
Portal will improve the process for applicants, tracking and 
communicating the application process throughout its lifecycle. This 
reduces redundancies and burden on applicants who request access to 
data from multiple agencies. The SAP Portal will automate key tasks to 
save resources and time and will bring agencies into compliance with 
the Evidence Act statutory requirements.
     Data Discovery: Individuals begin the process of accessing 
restricted use data by discovering confidential data assets through the 
SAP metadata catalog, maintained by federal statistical agencies at 
www.researchdatagov.org.
     SAP Portal Application Process: Individuals who have 
identified and wish to access confidential data assets will be able to 
apply for access through the SAP Portal when it is released to the 
public in late 2022. Applicants must create an account and follow all 
steps to complete the application. Applicants begin by entering their 
personal, contact, and institutional information, as well as the 
personal, contact, and institutional information of all individuals on 
their research team. Applicants provide summary information about their 
proposed project to include project title, duration, funding, and 
timeline. Other details provided by applicants include the data 
asset(s) they are requesting and any proposed linkages to data not 
listed in the SAP metadata catalog, including non-federal data sources. 
Applicants then enter detailed information regarding their proposed 
project, including a project abstract, research question(s),
     Submission for Review: Agencies approve or reject an 
application within a prompt timeframe. Agencies may also request 
applicants to revise and resubmit their application.
     Appeals Process: Applicants receiving an adverse 
determination have the option to submit an appeal for reconsideration 
by the data-owning agency or agencies. Applicants may also file an 
appeal for noncompliance with the SAP Policy.
     Access to Restricted Use Data: Approved applicants are 
notified through the SAP Portal that their proposal has been accepted. 
This concludes the SAP Portal process. Agencies will contact approved 
applicants to initiate completion of their security documents. The 
completion and submission of the agency's security requirements will 
take place outside of the SAP Portal and is therefore not included in 
the estimate of burden below.
    Estimate of Burden: The amount of time to complete an application 
within the SAP Portal may vary depending on the number of individuals 
on the application, the topic of the proposal, and the data assets 
being requested. To request access to NCSES data assets, it is 
estimated that the average time to complete and submit an application 
within the SAP Portal is 60 minutes. This estimate includes the time 
needed to complete the SAP Portal application fields (applicant 
information and research proposal); it does not include an estimate of 
the time needed to develop a research proposal itself. The research 
proposal is developed outside of the SAP Portal and may be written for 
multiple audiences (e.g., to solicit funding); therefore, it is not 
included in the estimate of burden for the SAP Portal.
    The expected number of applications submitted to NCSES in a given 
year may vary. Overall, NCSES estimates it may receive 20 application 
submissions within the SAP Portal per year. NCSES estimates that the 
total burden for the SAP Portal over the course of the three-year OMB 
clearance will be about 60 hours and, as a result, an average annual 
burden of 20 hours.

    Dated: November 1, 2022.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2022-24099 Filed 11-3-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P