[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 236 (Friday, December 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75642-75643]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26766]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Docket ID: FEMA-2022-0052; OMB No. 1660-0069]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) 
Version 5.0

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland 
Security.

ACTION: 60-Day notice of revision and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites 
the general public to take this opportunity to comment on an extension, 
with change, of a currently

[[Page 75643]]

approved information collection. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, this notice seeks comments concerning the 
National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Version 5.0. The 
program provides a well-established mechanism, using standardized 
reporting methods, to collect and analyze fire incident data at the 
Federal, State, and local levels with a myriad of life and property 
saving uses and benefits. This revision involves the reduction in 
burden hours associated with this collection due to modernization of 
NFIRS Version 5.0.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before February 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: To avoid duplicate submissions to the docket, please submit 
comments at www.regulations.gov under Docket ID FEMA-2022-0052. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments.
    All submissions received must include the agency name and Docket 
ID. Regardless of the method used for submitting comments or material, 
all submissions will be posted, without change, to the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, and will include any 
personal information you provide. Therefore, submitting this 
information makes it public. You may wish to read the Privacy and 
Security Notice that is available via a link on the homepage of 
www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Millstein, Branch Chief National 
Fire Data Center, at (301) 447-1841 or [email protected]. 
You may contact the Information Management Division for copies of the 
proposed collection of information at email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Commission on Fire Prevention 
and Control conducted a comprehensive study of the Nation's fire 
problem and recommended to Congress actions to mitigate the fire 
problem, reduce loss of life and property, and educate the public on 
fire protection and prevention. As a result of the study, Congress 
enacted Public Law 93-498, Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 
1974, which establishes the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) to 
administer fire prevention and control programs, supplement existing 
programs of research, training, and education, and encourage new and 
improved programs and activities by state and local governments. 
Section 9(a) of the Act authorizes the USFA Administrator to operate 
directly or through contracts or grants an integrated, comprehensive 
method to select, analyze, publish, and disseminate information related 
to prevention, occurrence, control, and results of fires of all types. 
The National Fire Incident Reporting Systems (NFIRS) was established in 
the mid-1970s and is mandated by the Federal Fire Prevention and 
Control Act of 1974 which authorizes the National Fire Data Center to 
gather and analyze information such as (1) the frequency, causes, 
spread, and extinguishment of fires; (2) injuries and deaths resulting 
from fires; (3) information on injuries sustained by a firefighter; and 
(4) information on firefighting activities. The act further authorizes 
USFA to develop uniform data reporting methods, and to encourage and 
assist Federal, state, local and other agencies in developing and 
reporting information. NFIRS is a reporting standard that fire 
departments use to uniformly report on the full range of their 
activities, from fire to emergency medical services to severe weather 
and natural disasters. This reporting allows fire departments, as well 
as many other government and non-government agencies, to quantify their 
actions and identify incident and response trends. Recent modernization 
to the data collection improved and therefore reduced the burden hours 
for reporting data to NFIRS. FEMA is requesting a revision of this 
information collection.

Collection of Information

    Title: National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Version 5.0.
    Type of Information Collection: Extension, with change, of a 
currently approved information collection.
    OMB Number: 1660-0069.
    FEMA Forms: FEMA Form FF-USFA-FY-21-109, National Fire Incident 
Reporting System (NFIRS) Version 5.0.
    Abstract: The purpose of this revision is to provide the reduction 
of burden hours recently achieved by modernizing and improving the 
application's interface. NFIRS is the USFA's system authorized under 
Public Law 93-498 to collect fire related data to identify and define 
the fire problem in the U.S., and to reduce fire related casualties and 
losses. Operating since 1999, the system provides an electronic, web-
based application for users to input their incident response 
information in a uniform manner.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households; State, local or Tribal 
government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 23,500.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 28,059,000.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 9,820,650.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost: $420,225,614.
    Estimated Respondents' Operation and Maintenance Costs: $1,974,000.
    Estimated Respondents' Capital and Start-Up Costs: $1,128,000.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to the Federal Government: $3,386,107.

Comments

    Comments may be submitted as indicated in the ADDRESSES caption 
above. Comments are solicited to (a) evaluate whether the proposed data 
collection is necessary for the proper performance of the agency, 
including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) 
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; (c) enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) 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 submission of responses.

Millicent Brown Wilson,
Records Management Branch Chief, Office of the Chief Administrative 
Officer, Mission Support, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 
Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2022-26766 Filed 12-8-22; 8:45 am]
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