[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 27 (Thursday, February 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8692-8693]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02588]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Docket Number DHS-2024-0004]


Agency Information Collection Activities: DHS Civil Rights 
Evaluation Tool, Collection Instrument DHS Form 3095, OMB Control No. 
1601-0024

AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

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

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security 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 8, 
2024. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.1.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number Docket 
#DHS-2024-0004, at:
    [cir] Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Please follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number Docket #DHS-2024-0004. All comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Recipients of Federal financial assistance 
from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are required to meet 
certain legal requirements relating to nondiscrimination and 
nondiscriminatory use of Federal funds. Those requirements include 
ensuring that entities receiving Federal financial assistance from the 
DHS do not deny benefits or services, or otherwise discriminate on the 
basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, or 
religion, in accordance with the following authorities:
     Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) Public 
Law 88-352, 42 U.S.C. 2000d-1 et seq., and the Department's 
implementing regulation, 6 CFR part 21 and 44 CFR part 7, which 
prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, color, or national 
origin by recipients of Federal financial assistance. Title VI, through 
its prohibition against discrimination on the basis of national origin, 
requires recipients to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful 
access to persons who are limited English proficient (LEP). See 
Guidance to Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI 
Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited 
English Proficient Persons, 76 FR. 21755-21768 (April 18, 2011).
     Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 
504), Public Law 93-112, as amended by Public Law 93-516, 29 U.S.C. 
794, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by 
recipients of Federal financial assistance.
     Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (title IX), 
20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq., and the Department's implementing regulations, 
6 CFR part 17, and 44 CFR part 19, which prohibits discrimination on 
the basis of sex in education program and activities received Federal 
financial assistance.
     Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Public Law 94-135, 42 
U.S.C. 6101 et seq., and the Department implementing regulation at 44 
CFR part 7, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age by 
recipients of Federal financial assistance.
     U.S. Department of Homeland Security regulation 6 CFR part 
19, which prohibits organizations that receive financial assistance 
from DHS for a social service program from discriminating against 
beneficiaries on the basis of religion or religious belief, a refusal 
to hold a religious belief, or a refusal to attend or participate in a 
religious practice.
    The aforementioned civil rights authorities also prohibit 
retaliatory acts against individuals for participating or opposing 
discrimination in a complaint, investigation, or other proceeding 
related to prohibited discrimination.
    DHS has an obligation to enforce nondiscrimination requirements to 
ensure that its federally assisted programs and activities are 
administered in a nondiscriminatory manner. In order to carry out its 
enforcement responsibilities, DHS must obtain a signed assurance of 
compliance and collect and review information from recipients to 
ascertain their compliance with applicable requirements. DHS 
implementing regulations and the Department of Justice regulation 
Coordination of Non-discrimination in Federally Assisted Program, 28 
CFR part 42, provide for the collection of data and information from 
recipients (see 28 CFR 42.406).
    DHS uses DHS Form 3095: DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool as the 
primary tool to implement this information collection. DHS is revising 
the collection, changing Section 1 of the form on Instructions to 
extend the deadline for initial submissions from 30 days of receipt of 
the Notice of Award to 60 days; to update the method of submission from 
email to an online portal, and to make other minor clarifying 
revisions. DHS is also making minor changes to Section 2 of the form on 
Organization Information to remove the fields for reporting Grant 
Agreement Number and Federal Award Identification Number; DHS now 
obtains that information from Department data sources. In addition, DHS 
is making minor changes to Section 5 of the form on Additional 
Information to streamline communication with recipients by providing a 
single, centralized point of contact for questions and technical 
assistance. Further, a minor change to Section 2 of the form on 
Organization Information to revise the field for reporting the 
organization's DUNS Number to Unique Entity ID. In 2022, the Federal 
Government stopped using DUNS Number to uniquely identify organizations 
and transitioned to using Unique Entity ID as the official identifier 
for entities doing business with the U.S. Government.
    DHS uses the form to collect civil rights related information from 
all recipients of federal financial assistance from the Department. 
Recipients are non-Federal entities that receive Federal financial 
assistance in the form of a grant, cooperative agreement, or other type 
of financial assistance directly from the Department and not through 
another recipient or ``pass-through'' entity. This information 
collection does not apply to subrecipients, Federal contractors (unless 
the contract includes the provision of financial assistance), nor the 
ultimate beneficiaries of services, financial aid, or other benefits 
from the Department.
    Recipients are required to provide the information 60 days from 
receipt of Notice of Award. Recipient of multiple

[[Page 8693]]

awards of DHS financial assistance only submit one completed form for 
their organization, not per award. Recipient are required to complete 
the form once every two years if they have an active award, not every 
time a grant is awarded. Entities whose award does not run a full two 
years are required to provide the information again if they receive a 
subsequent award more than two (2) years after the prior award. In 
responding to Section 4: Required Information, which contains the bulk 
of the information collection, if the recipient's responses have not 
changed in the two-year period since their initial submission, the 
recipient does not need to resubmit the information. Instead, the 
recipient will indicate ``no change'' for each applicable item.
    The purpose of the information collection is to advise recipients 
of their civil rights obligations and collect pertinent civil rights 
information to ascertain if the recipient has in place adequate 
policies and procedures to achieve compliance, and to determine what, 
if any, further action may be needed (technical assistance, training, 
compliance review, etc.) to ensure the recipient is able to meet its 
civil rights requirements and will carry out its programs and 
activities in a nondiscriminatory manner.
    Over the past three years, DHS has used the information collected 
via the DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool to identify gaps and 
deficiencies in recipient programs and directly help recipients address 
these gaps and deficiencies by providing technical assistance on 
developing or improving policies and procedures to prevent 
discrimination and ensure accessibility.
    DHS is transitioning the submission process from an email-based 
system to a new online portal platform. The portal will streamline and 
improve the submission process by allowing recipients to view the 
requirements contained in the form, report civil rights complaint and 
lawsuit data in a standardized chart, upload responsive documents and 
supporting information, and access technical assistance templates and 
other resources all in one space. DHS anticipates that records or files 
that will be used to respond to the information collection are already 
maintained in electronic format by the recipient, so providing the 
information electronically further minimizes administrative burden.
    When fully deployed, recipients will also be able to view and 
update contact information, the status of their submission with DHS, 
and submission due dates. If the recipient is unable to submit their 
information electronically, alternative arrangements will be made to 
submit responses in hard copy.
    The information collection will impact some small entities (e.g., 
non-profit service providers, local fire departments, etc.); however, 
recipients will only be required to provide this information once every 
two years, not every time a grant is awarded. Additionally, in 
responding to Section 4: Required Information, if the recipient's 
responses have not changed in the two-year period since their initial 
submission, the recipient does not need to resubmit the information. 
This will dramatically reduce the administrative burden on recipients 
after the initial submission. Additionally, DHS will further minimize 
burden on recipients by making available sample policies, procedures, 
and templates to assist recipients in completing Section 4 of the Form, 
and providing technical assistance directly to the recipient as needed.
    In accordance with the authorities identified above, the Department 
is required to obtain a signed assurance of compliance from recipients 
and to ensure that its federally assisted programs and activities are 
administered in a nondiscriminatory manner. If the information 
collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, the 
Department will not be able to fulfill its obligations to ascertain 
recipient compliance and enforce nondiscrimination in recipient 
programs. This could lead to the award of Federal financial assistance 
to recipients that are not complying with Federal civil rights law, and 
the perpetuation of discrimination in the provision of benefits and 
services to members of the public.
    There are no confidentiality assurances associated with this 
collection. The only privacy-sensitive information the form collects 
are the names of Point of Contacts from recipient organizations. 
Coverage for the collection of this information is provided under a 
Department Privacy Impact Assessment, DHS/ALL/PIA-006 General Contacts 
List.
    DHS is seeking a revision of the collection for another three-year 
period, proposing changes to Section 1 Instructions, Section 2 
Organization Information and Section 5 Additional Information. The 
changes to Sections 1, 2, and 5 do not impact the burden analysis for 
the collection. The changes in burden reflect the increase in the 
number of entities that are required to respond to the collection (as a 
result of increased Department grantmaking), increase in hourly wage 
rates as reported by BLS in the 2022 National Occupational Employment 
and Wage Estimates, increase in hourly wage rates for Federal staff as 
reported by Office of Personnel Management for 2023, increases in the 
number of staff supporting the program, and development of an online 
portal to streamline and modernize the submission process. Lastly, DHS 
is changing the name of the collection from ``DHS Civil Rights 
Compliance Form'' to ``DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool.''
    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: Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
    Title: DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool.
    OMB Number: 1601-0024.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Affected Public: Entities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance 
from DHS.
    Number of Respondents: 5,000.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 3 hours.
    Total Burden Hours: 10,050.

Robert Porter Dorr,
Executive Director, Business Management Directorate.
[FR Doc. 2024-02588 Filed 2-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9112-FL-P