REVISED STEP Supporting Statement (4-2013)

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION
SMART TRAVELER ENROLLMENT PROGRAM (STEP)
OMB Number 1405-0152,

DS-4024, DS-4024e

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. The information solicited on this form is requested in connection with the provisions of 22 U.S.C. § 2715, 22 U.S.C. § 4802(b), 22 C.F.R. 71.1 and 22 C.F.R. 71.6.

The Department of State provides consular assistance and protection to U.S. nationals abroad. U.S. nationals include all United States citizens. U.S. nationals may register with U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. In the event of a family emergency, natural disaster or international crisis, U.S. embassies and consulates rely on this registration information to provide critical information and assistance to them.

22 U.S.C. § 2715 provides, inter alia, that in the case of a major disaster or incident abroad which affects the health and safety of nationals of the United States residing or traveling abroad, the Secretary of State shall provide prompt and thorough notification of all appropriate information concerning such disaster or incident and its effect on U.S. nationals to the next-of-kin of such individuals.

22 U.S.C. § 4802(b) provides inter alia, that the Secretary of State shall develop and implement policies and programs to provide for the safe and efficient evacuation of private U.S. nationals when their lives are endangered and develop a mechanism whereby United States nationals can voluntarily request to be placed on a list in order to be contacted in the event of an evacuation, or which, in the event of an evacuation, can maintain information on the location of U.S. nationals in high risk areas submitted by their relatives.

22 C.F.R. § 71.1 provides for Foreign Service Officers to perform duties for the protection of Americans abroad, as imposed by rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of State.

22 C.F.R. § 71.6 Officers of the Foreign Service shall extend every possible aid and assistance within their power to distressed American citizens within their districts, but they shall not expend the funds nor pledge the credit of the Government of the United States for this purpose, except in the case of American seamen, or except as authorized by the Department of State.

The Department of State has developed a Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) that makes it possible for U.S. nationals to register on line from anywhere in the world. The site uses secure encryption. The STEP system enables the Department and its embassies and consulates abroad to better assist U.S. nationals in the event of a crisis, disaster or other emergency, by providing information about which nationals are present in country.

2. The primary purpose for soliciting the information is to enable U.S. nationals to register their whereabouts abroad on a voluntary basis, so that they may be contacted in the event of an evacuation or other emergency, in furtherance of the Secretary's responsibility for the protection of U.S. nationals abroad.

The STEP is intended for use by U.S. nationals residing or traveling abroad. U.S. nationals may register from their home or business in the United States prior to their overseas travel, or from anywhere in the world using the Internet. The service is available on the Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs web site http://travel.state.gov/ at https://step.state.gov/step/. The information received is used to facilitate locating and contacting U.S. nationals in the event of a major disaster or incident abroad, and evacuation, or a family emergency.

3. This collection of information is stored and primarily collected through electronic means, but a paper version of the information collection has been developed to assist individuals who do not have access to the Internet. U.S. embassies and consulates can enter the data from the paper version received by mail or fax into the American Citizens Services (ACS) system. The paper version provides a convenient mechanism to supplement existing electronic registration services.

By registering over the Internet, U.S. nationals do not have to go to a U.S. embassy or consulate, thereby reducing the burden on the public. Increased security threats against U.S. embassies abroad were also a factor in the decision to use electronic registration in lieu of requiring individuals to go to a U.S. embassy or consulate. Traditional on-site registration will still be available.

4. The information in the STEP is not duplicative of information maintained elsewhere or otherwise available. Since U.S. adult passports are issued for a period of 10 years, the information on the passport application regarding intended places to visit and contacts in the event of an emergency are often not current. The STEP enables the public to register this information quickly and easily for each trip abroad. 34.

5. The information collection does not involve small businesses or other small entities.

6. Protection of U.S. citizens, particularly in times of crisis or disaster, is a core function of the Department of State. It is essential that the Department have a reliable mechanism to facilitate communication with citizens in time of emergency. If the collection was not conducted, the consequences to U.S. nationals abroad during these times would be considerable.

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 under citation number 77 FR 65244 on Thursday, October 25, 2012. The purpose of the Federal Register notice was to solicit comments from the public.

One comment was received from the public. The commenter stated that the form could be left with a family or business associate instead of filing it with the Department. State responded by saying this form can indeed be left with a 3^rd party and submitted only as necessary. The other suggestions listed by the commenter were outside the scope of the request for comment for this particular collection, therefore a response on these was unnecessary.

9. No payment or gift is provided to respondents.

10. Respondents are informed that release of information obtained in this collection is subject to the restrictions on dissemination contained in the Privacy Act (5 USC 552a). Disclosure is authorized by the Act if, for example, it is made in conjunction with a “routine use.” The online registration form includes a Privacy Act Statement that is on the front page of the STEP interface. The Department of State’s Prefatory Statement of Routine Uses can be found at

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/102723.pdf.

If there are concerns about information security regarding the STEP please refer to the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) Privacy Impact Assessment.

STEP permits registrants to provide information about other members of their traveling party. Information about U.S. nationals will not be revealed by the Department of State unless permitted by the Privacy Act. 11. No questions of a sensitive nature are asked.

12. On average 988,292 respondents file a registration request through STEP annually. The DS-4024 takes 20 minutes to complete. Therefore, the annual burden is calculated at 329,430 hrs. (988,292 respondents x 20 mins./60 mins. = 329,430 hrs.). The frequency of response is “on occasion.”

The annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information is $9,685,242. The annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information was determined by figuring out the average hourly in earnings which are the average mean hourly civilian earnings at $21.29/hr. and U.S. military workers earnings at $20.70/hr. Averaging the two earnings, we determined that $20.99/hr (rounded to $21).  $21/hr was multiplied by 1.4 to get a weighted hourly wage of $29.40/hr. $29.40/hr. was then multiplied by 329,430 overall hour’s burden giving us a calculation of $9,685,242.

13. There are an estimated 2,500 respondents of the 988,292 respondents that mailed the STEP form to U.S. diplomatic posts worldwide. The total average postage cost burden for all respondents is $25,000. The respondents are located in the U.S. and abroad. The average postage cost burden on the respondent is determined using Priority Mail w/ a Flat Rate Envelope that is 12 1/2 by 9 1/2 criterions. Domestic postage under this criterion averages $5. International postage under this criterion averages $15. Overall average for domestic and international postage for each respondent under the aforementioned criterion is $10. To determine the overall postage cost burden we multiplied 2,500 respondents by $10, which equals $25,000. The total annual cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information is $25,000.

14. The total cost to the Federal Government projections for the DS-4024 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 $6,027,580.

	FY 12	FY 13	FY 14	FY 15
FSO Compensation	$3,008,910	$3,160,933	$3,399,413	$3,502,095
Consular Agent Compensation	$23,988	$25,160	$26,827	$27,952
WAE Compensation	$22,113	$23,315	$24,957	$26,115
All LES Compensation*	$901,086	$940,313	$992,563	$1,034,165
Domestic Compensation	$1,574,986	$1,688,324	$1,790,910	$1,916,197

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. Burden hour figures have increased from 225,648 hrs. to 329,430 hrs. The number of respondents has increased by 311,346 (from 676,946 to 988,292) since the last renewal because more U.S. travelers are taking advantage of the STEP program and this has resulted in a concurrent increase in burden time of 103,782 hours.

The total cost burden on the respondents increased from $0 to $25,000 because this is the first submission we have calculated postage burden costs.

16. The information collected will not be published.

17. The OMB approval information and expiration date for this collection will be displayed.

18. No exceptions are being requested to the certification statement.

B. STATISTICAL METHODS

This collection does not employ statistical methods.