0694.0057.SuppStmte.071210

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
U.S. Department of Commerce
Bureau of Industry and Security
Requests for Special Priorities Assistance
OMB Control No. 0694-0057

A. Justification
This is a request to extend the Office of Management and Budget’s approval.
1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.
This information is necessary to support the President's priorities and allocations authority under
Title I of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2061, et seq.), and
additional priorities authorities under the Selective Service Act of 1948 (50 U.S.C. App. 468), as
implemented by the Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) regulation (15 CFR 700).
The purpose of this authority is to ensure the timely delivery of products, materials, and services
to meet current national defense requirements. The definition of “national defense” in Section
702(14) of the DPA provides that this term includes “emergency preparedness activities”
conducted pursuant to Section 602 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (Stafford Act) (42 U.S.C. 5195a(b)) and “critical infrastructure protection and
restoration.”
Contractors may request Special Priorities Assistance (SPA) when placing rated orders with
suppliers, to obtain timely delivery of products, materials or services from suppliers, or for any
other reason under the DPAS, in support of approved national programs. The Form BIS-999 is
used to apply for such assistance.

2. Explain how, by whom, how frequently, and for what purpose the information will be
used. If the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support
information that will be disseminated to the public, then explain how the collection
complies with all applicable Information Quality Guidelines.
The information is used by the Office of Strategic Industries and Economic Security (SIES),
Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce and the four DPAS Delegate
agencies: the Department of Defense (DOD) and its associated agencies, the Department of
Energy (DOE), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), to provide Special Priorities Assistance (SPA).
Although the DPAS is designed to be largely self-executing, problems do occur from time-totime. Such problems include assistance in obtaining timely deliveries of items needed to satisfy
defense requirements, locating a supplier, resolving production or delivery conflicts between
multiple rated orders, verifying the urgency and determining the validity of rated orders, or

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authorizing the use of the DPAS authority on contracts or purchase orders to obtain items not
automatically included under the DPAS. SPA can be provided for any reason in support of the
DPAS.
Use of form BIS-999 serves to structure the information concerning DPAS problems so that it
can be presented in writing to the appropriate DPAS Delegate agency and SIES officials for
assistance and resolution. Each item of information requested is needed to enable these officials
to take appropriate action to resolve DPAS problems on a case-by-case basis. The information
requested includes identification of the sponsoring government agency, government program or
end-product, the involved parties (customer, supplier, etc.), contract or purchase order
information, description of the items required, use of the items, current shipment schedule, and
description of problem and urgency of requirement.
The Section 515 Information Quality Guidelines apply to this information collection and comply
with all applicable information quality guidelines, i.e., OMB, Department of Commerce, and
specific operating unit guidelines.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological techniques or other forms of
information technology.
The use of automated systems for recordkeeping and data retrieval by many business entities
facilitates the generation of necessary information. Form BIS-999 is currently available via the
Internet from the BIS web site (www.bis.doc.gov/dpas) and the DHS Federal Emergency
Management Agency’s (FEMA) DPAS web site www.fema.gov/about/programs/dpa/dpas.shtm)
and can also be downloaded as a PDF file, filled out, and transmitted electronically as an
attachment to an e-mail. In addition, and XLS version can be downloaded from the U.S. Navy’s
DPAS web site (www.navsup.navy.mil/navsup/ourteam/navsuphq/dpas) and the U.S. Air Force
on behalf of the Departments of Defense and Commerce has created a fully automated SPA
process, including the preparation, processing, and tracking of requests for assistance by
Government personnel.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.
The contractor applicants are the only known source of this information. There is no similar
information available.

5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities, describe
the methods used to minimize burden.
All business entities keep records of their transactions and most of them, both large and small,
have integrated defense rated order recordkeeping built into their general recordkeeping systems.
The information required to be provided on Form BIS-999 is readily available to the applicant

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from these records. Therefore, the additional burden on a smaller entity is minimal, and the
overall burden is further minimized by computerized recordkeeping.

6. Describe the consequences to the Federal program or policy activities if the collection is
not conducted or is conducted less frequently.
A request for SPA is voluntary and is made only when the contractor wants assistance. SPA
enables DOD, DOE, GSA, DHS, and SIES to properly implement delegated responsibilities
under the Defense Production Act, the Selective Service Act, and the DPAS in support of
approved national defense, energy, and emergency preparedness programs, including critical
infrastructure protection and restoration.

7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a
manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.
There are no special circumstances that require the information collection to be conducted in a
manner inconsistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6.

8. Provide a copy of the PRA Federal Register notice that solicited public comments on the
information collection prior to this submission. Summarize the public comments received
in response to that notice and describe the actions taken by the agency in response to those
comments. Describe the efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their
views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and
recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be
recorded, disclosed, or reported.
The notice requesting public comment was published in the Federal Register on
March 15, 2010, Vol. 75 No. 49, p. 12174. No comments were received.

9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than
remuneration of contractors or grantees.
There is no plan to provide any payment or gift to respondents.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for
assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.
The following information is stated on the form: ‘All company information furnished related to
this application will be deemed BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL under Sec. 705(d) of the Defense
Production Act of 1950 [50 U.S.C. App. 2155(d)] which prohibits publication or disclosure of
this information unless the President determines that withholding it is contrary to the interest of

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the national defense. The Department of Commerce will assert the appropriate Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) exemptions if such information is the subject of FOIA requests.
The unauthorized publication or disclosure of such information by Government personnel is
prohibited by law. Violators are subject to fine and/or imprisonment.’

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual
behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered
private.
There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Provide an estimate in hours of the burden of the collection of information.
The total annual public burden is estimated to be 600 hours. This is based on 30 minutes of
burden for each of 1,200 annual responses.
The information reported on Form BIS-999 is used by the applicant in the conduct of its own
operations. These information activities are totally integrated into the operating and overhead
expenses of most respondents which generally use automated systems for recordkeeping and
information retrieval, minimizing the involvement of higher paid executive personnel.
Accordingly, it is estimated that the average annual cost to each respondent to prepare the form
is $17.50 for 30 minutes per year of both management and clerical time (15 minutes of
management time at $32 per hour, plus 15 minutes of clerical time at $10.00 per hour, plus $.50
for 30 minutes of administrative expense, plus $6.50 for 30 minutes of overhead expense).
Assuming 1200 respondents per year, the total annual cost to all respondents is $21,000
($17.50 x 1,200 responses). This estimate assumes that no applicant will file more than one
Form BIS-999 per year. Form BIS-999 is prepared only when SPA is needed by a defense
agency or a defense contractor. There is no way to estimate the average number of times a
respondent will request SPA. However, with access to the automated SPA process described
below, it is anticipated that these costs will be substantially reduced. No meaningful estimate of
this anticipated reduction in burden is available at this time.

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to the respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection (excluding the value of the burden
hours in Question 12 above).
Not Applicable.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.
The annual cost of this survey to the Federal Government is difficult to estimate with any
certainty. While the prorated salaries and overhead of SIES's personnel engaged in SPA

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activities and the costs of printing and distributing the forms are known, the total number of
government personnel engaged in SPA work, their salaries, the time spent by these persons doing
this work, and the amount of prorated overhead expense at the various agencies to which
requests for SPA are submitted, are unknown. However, certain assumptions can be made based
on SIES's knowledge of how SPA requests are handled by these agencies. If an estimated
number of agency man-years is multiplied by the average annual cost to the government
(including overhead) of a professional level federal employee that would ordinarily handle an
SPA request, that number ($400,000), plus SIES’s personnel, administrative, and overhead costs
attributable to SPA activities ($100,000), suggests a total annual cost to the Federal Government
of $500,000. Modest printing and distribution cost savings are attributable to the BIS-999 form
being publicly and electronically available from the BIS/DPAS web site, enabling respondents to
download the form, prepare it, and transmit a completed form as an e-mail attachment.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.
Not applicable.

16. For collections whose results will be published, outline the plans for tabulation and
publication.
The information is considered business proprietary and is not to be published.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the
information collection, explain the reasons why display would be inappropriate.
Displaying the expiration date of the OMB approval of this collection of information on the form
BIS-999 would not be feasible. The form is also available electronically from our website, and
various DOD websites. To have to change the expiration date on each website each month
during and after review/approval could only serve to unnecessarily confuse and delay the public
in its use.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.
Not applicable.

B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
Not applicable.

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