A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Crisis evacuation loans are issued for U.S. nationals abroad and their immediate family members, non-U.S. national adult escorts for minor U.S. national children, and third country nationals who possess appropriate travel documents, potentially including a valid visa for entry into the United States, when their lives are endangered by war, civil unrest, or natural disaster. In such situations, U.S. embassies and / or consulates may evacuate third country nationals to safe-haven countries based on agreement among governments, when it is not feasible for their own governments to safely evacuate them, or in other circumstances, before they are repatriated to their home country by their governments. The purpose of the DS-5528 is to process these emergency loans and to document the safe and efficient evacuation from abroad of private U.S. nationals, family members and foreign nationals.
22 U.S.C. § 4802(b) requires the Secretary of State to develop and implement policies and programs to provide for the safe and efficient evacuation of United States Government personnel, dependents, and private United States citizens when their lives are endangered. Such policies shall include measures to identify high risk areas where evacuation may be necessary and, where appropriate, providing staff to United States Government missions abroad to assist in those evacuations.
22 U.S.C. § 2671 authorizes the Secretary of State to make expenditures for unforeseen emergencies. Emergency expenditures include activities such as the evacuation when war, civil unrest, or natural disaster, endanger the lives of U.S. Government employees and their dependents, private U.S. citizens, and third country nationals. 22 U.S.C. § 2671(b)(2)(A)(ii) provides that such emergency expenditures are to be made on a reimbursable basis to the maximum extent practicable. Such reimbursements are to be credited to the applicable Department of State appropriation and to remain available until expended, except that no reimbursement under this clause shall be paid that is greater than the amount the person evacuated would have been charged for a reasonable commercial air fare immediately prior to the events giving rise to the evacuation. Debt collection, requiring use of the Social Security number, is pursued in accordance with Federal government-wide debt collection laws codified at 31 U.S.C. 3711 and 31 U.S.C. 3717. Once the individual reaches the safe haven, he or she may be repatriated to the United States or other location. 22 U.S.C. § 2671(b)(2)(B) provides that such emergency expenditures also 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. 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, and requires collection of a Social Security number.
22 U.S.C. § 2715 requires the Secretary of State, in the event of a major disaster or incident abroad that affects the health and safety of citizens of the United States residing or traveling abroad, to provide prompt and thorough notification of all appropriate information concerning such disaster or incident and its effect on U.S.citizens to the next-of-kin of such individuals.
Department of State regulations pertaining to services to U.S. citizens in distress and reports on catastrophes abroad are published in 22 C.F.R. Part 71.
2. The information collected in the DS-5528 is used to document the evacuation of persons from abroad when their lives are endangered by war, civil unrest, or natural disaster, document issuance of a crisis evacuation loan, 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 Crisis Evacuation loans. An electronic version of the Evacuee Manifest and Promissory Note will be created to allow applicants to submit their loan requests to CA and our 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 of data collection. It also allows for better and early integration of the collected data into existing CA 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.
An online application would not supplant the physical DS-5528. 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, or other circumstances where use of the electronic form is impracticable, 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-5528 is launched, applicants will continue to complete their 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. The electronic DS-5528 should be launched on official Department of State web pages by the time we submit the 30-Day Package for the next OMB submission.
4. The information in the DS-5528 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-5528 is essential to providing a mechanism for evacuation of U.S. nationals and other eligible persons from foreign countries during periods of crisis described above. Conducting such evacuations and securing information to obtain reimbursement for certain expenditures are statutory responsibilities of the Department of State. If the information collection were not conducted, the consequences could include considerable hardship to U.S. nationals in foreign countries during a period of crisis.
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 13140 on Tuesday, February 26, 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 for purposes consistent with Federal statutes.
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 263 hours per year is based on estimates that the form is completed by approximately 790 persons per year, and only one response is permitted per applicant. Completion time for the form is estimated at 20 minutes. The information collected consists of personal biographic data and the financial cost of repatriation, emergency medical and dietary assistance in the foreign country or evacuation, and does not require any special research.
FY 2011 # of Persons Evacuated – 2,201 (Cairo 1,803 evacuations)
FY 2010
# of Persons Evacuated – 34
FY 2009
# of Persons Evacuated – 136
The overall hourly cost burden to the respondents is approximately $7,837. The overall hourly cost burden was determined by to be $21.29, which is the average mean hourly civilian wage. $21.29/hr was multiplied by 1.4, resulting in a weighted hourly wage of $29.80/hr. $29.80/hr. was then multiplied by 263 hours, providing an overall hourly cost burden of approximately $7,837.
13. The total cost burden to respondents regarding postage is zero. The DS-5528 is not submitted by mail. The form will be submitted manually or electronically (When the form comes electronically available) by the respondent at a U.S. diplomatic mission or in a critical situation where it may not be possible to get to the U.S. diplomatic mission, the information collection may be submitted at a remote location or on a tarmac. There is no application fee.
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 $2,816,867.
|
FY13 |
FY14 |
FY15 |
FSO Compensation |
$1,485,825 |
$1,512,840 |
$1,566,870 |
Consular Agent Compensation |
$11,825 |
$12,040 |
$12,470 |
WAE Compensation |
$11,000 |
$11,200 |
$11,600 |
All LES Compensation* |
$442,750 |
$450,800 |
$466,900 |
Domestic Compensation |
$794,750 |
$809,200 |
$838,100 |
Total Cost to the Gov’t |
$ 2,750,000 |
$2,800,000 |
$2,900,000 |
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. There are no program changes, because this is a new information collection.
16. General tabulations of information regarding the Evacuee Manifest and Promissory Note are maintained in the “Consular Package,” the Consular Workload Statistical System (CWSS) system and the Consular Consolidated Database (CCD). 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 Comptroller and Global Financial Services (CGFS), 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/msword |
| File Title | CROBA 30 day supporting statement 2006 |
| Author | MeszarosM |
| Last Modified By | ciupekra |
| File Modified | 2013-04-18 |
| File Created | 2013-04-18 |