[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1557-1558]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00371]


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COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, 
and Approvals: Qualification Information for Candidates to Advisory 
Committees

AGENCY: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (``Commission'' or 
``USCCR'') is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the 
proposed collection of qualification information for advisory committee 
candidates by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA''), 
Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register 
concerning each proposed collection of information, and to allow 60 
days for public comment.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by subject matter 
``Qualification Information for Candidates to Advisory Committees,'' 
and by any of the following methods:
     You may electronically submit written comments to USCCR at 
[email protected] and/or [email protected].
     Mail: Sheryl Cozart, Senior Attorney-Advisor, Office of 
the General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Commission on 
Civil Rights, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 1150, Washington, DC 
20425.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as Mail above.
    Please submit your comments using only one method. All comments 
must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied by an English 
translation. Comments will be posted as received to www.usccr.gov/news/advisory-committees-news and/or https://www.usccr.gov/news/commission-news.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sheryl Cozart, Senior Attorney-
Advisor, Office of the General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, 
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 
1150, Washington, DC 20425; phone: 202-839-7255; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., 
Federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (``OMB'') for each collection of information they conduct or 
sponsor. ``Collection of Information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) 
and 5 CFR 1320.3 and includes agency requests or requirements that 
members of the public obtain or report information. Section 
3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), requires Federal 
agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning 
each proposed collection of information, before submitting the 
collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, the 
USCCR is publishing notice of the proposed collection of information 
listed below. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.\1\
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    \1\ 44 U.S.C. 3512, 5 CFR 1320.5(b)(2)(i) and 1320.8(b)(3)(vi).
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    Title: ``Qualification Information for Candidates to Advisory 
Committees.'' This is a request for a new OMB control number.
    Abstract: The Commission studies civil rights issues and 
subsequently publishes reports with recommendations to inform the 
President, Congress, and the public. The USCCR's Advisory Committees 
were created to provide input and make recommendations to the 
Commission concerning discrimination and denial of equal protection of 
law, the right to vote, and related civil rights issues. The Commission 
was established by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, Public Law 815-315, 
and subsequently modified in the Civil Rights Commission Amendments Act 
of 1994, 42 U.S.C. 1975a. These laws direct the Commission to establish 
Advisory Committees for each state, the District of Columbia, and five 
U.S. territories. These non-discretionary, statutory Advisory 
Committees are subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 
Public Law 92-463 codified as 5 U.S.C. app. 2.

[[Page 1558]]

    As noted above, the 56 Advisory Committees advise the Commission on 
civil rights issues that the Committees choose to evaluate. The 
Commission may also ask Advisory Committees to take up a civil rights 
topic in support of a Commission investigation. After a Committee's 
report is submitted, the Commission may invite the Advisory Committee 
Chair to discuss the report, including the findings and 
recommendations, at regularly scheduled Commission business meetings. 
The Commission may notify the U.S. Congressional delegation for the 
particular locale that the advisory committee within their jurisdiction 
has published a report. In addition, the Commission may distribute 
Committee reports to the federal, state, and local bodies that are 
identified in the Committee report. Lastly, individual Commissioners 
often attend the Advisory Committee meetings, which are open to the 
general public.
    The USCCR identifies candidates for advisory committee membership 
through a variety of methods, including, but not limited to, public 
requests for nominations; recommendations from existing advisory 
committee members; consultations with knowledgeable persons outside the 
USSCR (academia, non-profits, other state or federal government 
agencies, academia, etc.); and Commissioners' and USCCR staff's 
professional knowledge of those experienced in civil rights. Following 
the identification process, the USCCR develops a list of proposed 
members with the relevant points of view needed to ensure membership 
balance. The USCCR Commissioners then vote to appoint individuals to 
serve four-year terms as Advisory Committee Members. Advisory Committee 
Members are generally classified as Representatives. Representatives 
provide the viewpoints of entities or recognizable groups and are 
expected to potentially represent a particular and known bias or 
perspective.
    The collection of information is necessary to support the USCCR 
Advisory Committees by placing qualified individuals on them as 
members. Pursuant to the FACA, an agency must ensure that a committee 
is balanced with respect to the viewpoints represented and the 
functions to be performed by that committee. Consistent with this, in 
order to select individuals for potential membership on an advisory 
committee, the USCCR must determine that potential members are 
qualified to serve on an advisory committee and that the viewpoints are 
properly balanced on the committee.
    USCCR staff would use the information collected to determine the 
members come from the rich and diverse backgrounds of all of the United 
States and its Territories that USCCR wishes to have represented on its 
Advisory Committees, to determine the civil rights experience and 
expertise of potential advisory committee members, and to ensure that 
the membership on a committee is balanced.
    The USCCR seeks to collect the following information: Information 
that supports an individual's state or territory residency 
requirements, civil rights experience and expertise to serve on an 
advisory committee, including a letter discussing their qualifications, 
resume or curriculum vitae, and/or other similar biographical 
information documents such as name and address and social media 
handles. Additionally, the USCCR seeks to collect information that 
ensures membership balance (e.g., represented viewpoint category), and 
that potential members broadly represent the demographics and/or 
viewpoints of the United States and its Territories' varied and diverse 
backgrounds including, but not limited to, education, occupation, 
political affiliation and/or ideology, race/ethnicity, national origin, 
gender, sexual orientation, disability status, age, religion, and 
veteran status.
    With respect to the collection of information, the USCCR invites 
comments on:
     Whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Commission, including whether the information will have a practical 
use;
     The accuracy of the Commission's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
     Ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and
     Ways to minimize the burden of 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.
    You should submit only information that you wish to make available 
publicly. If you wish the Commission to consider information that you 
believe is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, 
a petition for confidential treatment of the exempt information may be 
submitted according to the procedures established in Sec.  704.1 of the 
Commission's regulations.\2\
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    \2\ 45 CFR 704.1.
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    The Commission reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to 
review, pre-screen, filter, redact, refuse or remove any or all of your 
submission from http://www.USCCR.gov or other USCCR website to which it 
posts comments that it may deem to be inappropriate for publication, 
such as obscene language. All submissions that have been redacted or 
removed that contain comments on the merits of the Information 
Collection Request will be retained in the public comment file and will 
be considered as required under the Administrative Procedure Act and 
other applicable laws, and may be accessible under the Freedom of 
Information Act.
    Burden Statement: The respondent burden for this collection is 
estimated to be as follows for each currently vacant Advisory 
Committee:
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 22.
    Estimated Average Burden Hours per Respondent: 1.5 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 33 hours.
    Frequency of Collection: As needed.
    There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs 
associated with this collection.

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)

    Dated: January 6, 2022.
David Ganz,
General Counsel, USCCR.
[FR Doc. 2023-00371 Filed 1-10-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6335-01-P