A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Emergency loans are issued to U.S. nationals abroad and their family members and to foreign nationals in several scenarios, two of which are to be covered by this form:
-- Repatriation loans for destitute U.S. nationals and their family members who are outside the United States to provide for the citizen’s and family’s return to the United States;
-- Emergency medical and dietary assistance loans for United States citizens incarcerated abroad or destitute United States citizens abroad and their family members who are unable to obtain such services otherwise;
22 U.S.C. § 2670(j) authorizes the Secretary of State to provide emergency medical attention and dietary supplements, and other emergency assistance, for United States citizens incarcerated abroad or to destitute United States citizens abroad who are unable to obtain such services otherwise, such assistance to be provided on a reimbursable basis to the extent feasible. Such assistance is referred to as Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance (EMDA).
22 U.S.C. § 2671 authorizes the Secretary of State to make expenditures for unforeseen emergencies. 22 U.S.C. § 2671(b)(2)(B) provides that such emergency expenditures include loans made to destitute citizens of the United States who are outside the United States and made to provide for the return to the United States of its citizens. This is known as the repatriation loan program. 22 U.S.C. § 2671(d) sets forth what the Secretary of State shall require regarding application for a repatriation loan, collection procedures and passport limitations.
Department of State regulations pertaining to, inter alia, services to U.S. citizens in distress are published in 22 CFR Part 71.
2. The information collected in the DS-3072 is used to document the issuance of emergency loans provided in the contexts described above, to obtain a Privacy Act waiver to share information about the welfare of a citizen or lawful permanent resident with designated persons, and to facilitate debt collection.
3. The Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) intends to use web and mobile technology to collect information regarding Repatriation and Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance (EMDA) loans. An electronic version of the DS-3072 will be created to allow applicants to submit their loan requests to the Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs and its embassies and consulates abroad. Once the applicant has entered the information and submitted the form, the information will be made available to Consular Officers via the Department of State network and systems for further processing.
This approach of automated data collection allows for faster and more accurate data gathering, ensures effective use of Consular Officers time, and improves the efficiency on the data collection end. It also allows for better and early integration of the collected data into existing Consular Affairs’ systems. The use of web and mobile technology will enable loan applicants to have quicker access to the forms and will offer the flexibility to complete the loan application form conveniently from any place in the world, which is a critical advantage in an emergency situation. The electronic DS-3072 should be launched on official Department of State web pages by the time we submit the 30-Day Package for the next OMB submission.
An online application would not supplant the physical DS-3072. In areas where internet access is unreliable, or where the applicant pool may not have the level of technological literacy to successfully submit an application online, we have a duty to provide U.S. nationals with the choice to use a paper application.
Until the completely electronic version of the DS-3072 is launched, applicants will continue to complete his/her portion of the application along with providing supporting documentation to a consular officer, consular associate, or locally employed staff, who will examine the documentation and enter the information provided into a Department of State electronic consular database. If approved by a consular officer, a form completed in this manner would then be printed, signed, and sealed by the consular officer.
The respondent’s information for both the paper and the upcoming electronic version of the application will be inputted either automatically or manually into a Department of State electronic consular database.
4. The information in the DS-3072 is not duplicative of information maintained elsewhere or otherwise available.
5. The information collection does not involve small businesses or other small entities.
6. The DS-3072 is essential to providing a mechanism for issuance of repatriation and Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance loans to eligible U.S. nationals and family members from foreign countries. It is a statutory responsibility of the Department of State. If the collection were not conducted, the consequences would be a considerable hardship to destitute U.S. nationals stranded in foreign countries.
7. No special circumstances exist
8. The 60-day notice for the current OMB approval for this information collection was published in the Federal Register 78 FR 13742 on Thursday, February 28, 2013. The purpose of the Federal Register notice was to solicit comments from the public. No comments were received from the public.
9. No payment or gift is provided to respondents.
10. Respondents are notified on the form that information provided is covered by the Privacy Act and they also are asked on the form to sign a Privacy Act waiver to permit the release of their information to designated persons for designated purposes.
11. The Secretary of State is required by law at 2 U.S.C. § 2671(d)(1) to request both a verifiable address and Social Security number at the time of loan application. Although furnishing the information, including Social Security number, is voluntary, applicants may not be eligible for the requested assistance if they do not provide the required information.
12. The estimated hour burden of 452 hours per year is based on estimates that the DS-3072 form is completed by approximately 1,357 loan applicants per year, and only one response is permitted per applicant. Completion time for the form is estimated at 20 minutes. The information involves personal biographic data and the financial cost of repatriation, emergency medical and dietary assistance in the foreign country or evacuation per person and does not require any special research.
FY 2012
Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance for Incarcerated U.S. Citizens Abroad – 60
Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance for non-incarcerated destitute U.S. Citizens Abroad – 29
Repatriation of Destitute U.S. Citizens – 1,125
Total Respondents: 1,214
FY 2011
Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance for Incarcerated U.S. Citizens Abroad – 51
Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance for non-incarcerated destitute U.S. Citizens Abroad – 42
Repatriation of Destitute U.S. Citizens – 1,045
Total Respondents: 1,138
FY 2010
Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance for Incarcerated U.S. Citizens Abroad – 93
Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance for non-incarcerated destitute U.S. Citizens Abroad – 58
Repatriation of Destitute U.S. Citizens – 1,568 (which included persons evacuated from Haiti to the Dominican Republic and repatriated to the United States from the Dominican Republic.)
Total Respondents: 1,719
The annualized cost to respondents for the hour burden for collections of information, based on appropriate wage rate categories, is approximately $13,470. The annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information, based on appropriate wage rate categories, was determined by figuring out the average hourly wage; $21.29 is the average mean hourly civilian earnings. $21.29/hr was multiplied by 1.4 to get a weighted hourly wage of $29.80/hr. $29.80/hr. was then multiplied by 452 overall hour’s burden by the respondents. The final calculation equaled approximately $13,470.
13. There are only two costs associated with this application. The first cost being the cost of a notary to notarize the Privacy Act Authorization section. Second, the cost to the applicant who has to express mail the application to Washington D.C. (only in cases where the applicant is in the United States and the beneficiary minor or incompetent adult is abroad); or the applicant applying abroad who must send the application by express mail to the U.S. embassy/consulate handling the case. The cost to each respondent to have Post notarize the Privacy Act Authorization section is $50.
There are approximately, 1,357 loan applicants per year. By multiplying 1,357 applicants by the $50 notary fee, the cost for all respondents combined is $67,850.
The domestic costs for express mail averages $18, and international express mail has an average cost of $120. The average rates were based on data for FedEx express mail shipments. Approximately 270 applicants send the form by express mail. The average total cost per applicant for both international and domestic express mail shipments is $70. Multiply 270 applicants by $70 and the total overall cost for express mail is $18,900.
The total annual cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers results is $86,750.
There is no consular fee associated with this service.
14. The total cost to the Federal Government projections for the DS-3072 come from the Consular Cost of Service Model. The Office of the Comptroller conducts biannual overseas time surveys and gathers workload and staffing data from consular staff to allocate compensation costs to services and products. Based on the following data, the average estimated cost to the Federal Government is $4,710,627.
|
FY13 |
FY14 |
FY15 |
FSO Compensation |
$2,481,855 |
$2,571,284 |
$2,604,599 |
Consular Agent Compensation |
$19,700 |
$20,261
|
$20,806 |
WAE Compensation |
$18,326 |
$18,848 |
$19,354 |
All LES Compensation* |
$737,608 |
$749,192 |
$769,332 |
Domestic Compensation |
$1,324,030 |
$1,352,315 |
$1,427,376 |
Total Cost to the Gov’t |
$ 4,581,419 |
$ 4,711,900 |
$4,838,563 |
The Consular Cost of Service Model that calculates the cost to the government data is housed and operated by the Consular Affairs Comptroller’s Office (CA/C). At this point, the Consular Cost of Service Model cannot break the cost data down further by percentage of time spent reviewing forms, processing, etc.
15. The number of respondents varies from year to year depending on the number of citizens in need. Major events that occur during any fiscal year can drastically enlarge the average number of responses received across all U.S. posts abroad. Based on the average number of respondents in the past 3 years (FY10-FY12), the number of respondents increased to 1,357 resulting in an associated increase in burden to 452 hours (1,357 respondents per year x 20 minutes per respondent/60 minutes = 452 hours).
Cost burden has increased because of the inclusion of the Notary Fee and the Mailing costs.
The time burden for respondents has increased from 10 minutes to 20 minutes because of the changes made to the form. Content changes that were made to the DS-3072 are as follows:
● The title has been changed to “Repatriation/Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance Loan Application”.
● Asks for “Identity Document” information such as “Passport #” or “National ID #”.
● Lodging contact information at temporary address abroad is now requested to facilitate provision of the loan to the applicant abroad.
● Current medical condition is new.
● Email address has been added to Block 11, 21 & 31.
● Emergency contact information section has been moved to #22.
● #9 in the previous version of the form has been removed.
● #34 through #88 is a new section added to the form.
● The Promissory Note is now #89 through #93.
● “Privacy Authorization” has been moved to #94 through #100 and a notary section has been added to the “Privacy Authorization” section
● The “If applicable, List below U.S. citizen associated with Third Country National/Host Country National, accompanying spouse or partner, or escort primary applicant” has been added to the “Consular Notes” section of the form.
● #16 “If Applying Jointly” section of the form has been removed.
● The “Evacuation Documentation For Official Use Only” has been removed.
● “Part 3 – Consular Certification – For Official Use” has been removed.
● #20 “Consular Adjudication Notes” has been removed.
16. General tabulations of information regarding Application for Repatriation and Emergency Medical and Dietary Assistance loans are maintained in the “Consular Package,” the Consular Workload Statistical System (CWSS) system. This contains raw data broken down by the Foreign Service post issuing the report. Until the debt is paid in full, records of emergency loans are maintained in the files of the Department of State, Passport Services, filed alphabetically by the name of the subject, the automated case record system of the Office of American Citizens Services and Crisis Management, and the Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, Accounts Receivable Branch.
17. The OMB expiration date will be displayed.
18. No exceptions are requested.
This collection does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | CROBA 30 day supporting statement 2006 |
| Author | MeszarosM |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-29 |