Supporting Statement A - FRCoP Final2019

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

SUPPORTING STATEMENT A FOR

First Responders Community of Practice

OMB Control No.: 1640-0016

COLLECTION INSTRUMENT(S):

Application Request Page

1. Justification

1. .The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate First Responder Communities of Practice (FRCoP) program is responsible for providing a collaborative environment for the first responder community to share information, best practices, and lessons learned. Section 313 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (PL 107-296) established this requirement.

2. .First Responder Communities of Practice is a network of vetted, active and retired first responders, emergency response professionals and Federal, State, local, or Tribal Homeland Security officials sponsored by the U. S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate's First Responders Group. Registered members of this professional network share information, ideas, lessons learned and best practices, enabling them to more efficiently and effectively prepare for all hazards.  Members use tools such as wikis, blogs and RSS feeds to collaborate online on the creation and management of critical planning, training, and other initiatives.  Through information sharing and active participation in community workspaces, members are able to leverage each other's experiences to meet mission objectives. First Responder Communities of Practice not only offers information repositories and content creation tools, but also provides networking capabilities for practitioners across the country to connect with one another in a trusted, online environment.

3. FRCoP is solely a web-based tool and thus only employs web-based technology to collect information from users to both reduce the burden and increase the efficiency of connecting an otherwise widespread and disparate group. FRCoP can be accessed at https://communities.firstresponder.gov

4. This information is not collected in any form, and therefore is not duplicated elsewhere.

5. This information collection does not have an impact on small businesses or other small entities.

6. The collection of information from members of any/all communities of practice is voluntary. There is no established increment or frequency for collecting or storing information – with the exception of basic registration information for each FRCoP member. FRCoP is a collaboration site. As such, it supports DHS S&T’s methods to comply with Section 313 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (PL 107-296) to host and maintain a Technology Clearinghouse. If information cannot be collected, shared, hosted, and stored, DHS S&T will not be able to continue to operate the FRCoP and will not meet a key element of Section 313 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (PL 107-296).

7. This information collection is conducted in manner consistent with guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

 

8. The Federal Register Notice soliciting public comment for a 60-day period was published on August 2, 2018 at 83 FR 37821 and public comments were received but were not relevant to the collection. Further, a second Federal Register Notice soliciting public comment for a 30-day period was published on November 15 at 83 FR 57491 and public comments were received but were not relevant to the collection.

9. DHS S&T does not provide payments or gifts to respondents in exchange for a benefit sought.

10. There is no assurance of confidentiality provided to the respondents. This collection is covered by the existing Privacy Impact Assessment DHS/ALL/PIA-006, Department of Homeland Security General Contact Lists and the DHS/ALL-002 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Mailing and Other Lists Systems, as well as the existing Systems of Records Notice, DHS/ALL-004 General Information Technology Access Account Records System (GITAARS), November 27, 2012, 77 FR 70792.It also covered under the Privacy Impact Assessment: DHS/ALL/PIA-015, Department of Homeland Security Web Portals, June 15, 2009.

11. There are no questions of a sensitive nature in this information collection.

12. The Total Estimated Burden for this collection annually is $42,285.30.

The Total Annual Burden in Hours: 1,000.

The Total Respondents annually is 2,000.

(these amounts are calculated in the following table.)

Type of Respondent(s)	No. of Respondent(s)	No. to Responses	*Avg. Burden per Response (in hours)	Total Annual Burden (in hours)	**Avg. Hourly Wage Rate	Total Annual Respondent
First Line Supervisors of Firefighters	240	240	.5	120	$53.47	$6,416.4
First Line Supervisor of Police and Detectives	560	560	.5	280	$61.64	$17,259.20
Emergency Medical Services	580	580	.5	290	$24.70	$7,163
Emergency Management Directors	60	60	.5	30	$54.61	$1,638.3
Volunteer and Other First Responder (supervisor level)	560	560	.5	280	$35.03	$9,808.4
Totals	2000	2000	2.5	1000	$229.45	$42,285.30

Note: *  First Responders Community of Practice has estimated the average time required to complete the Application Registration form as __30__ minutes (_.5 hours per form).  This time includes reading the instructions and completing the form.

Note: ** Based on the following Mean hourly wages rates in May, 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics (source: http://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm , the average hourly wage rates are calculated as follows:

• First Line Supervisor of Firefighters of 38.19 with a 1.4 benefit multiplier equals a fully-load wage rate of $53.47.

• First Line Supervisor of Police and Detectives of 44.03 with a 1.4 benefit multiplier equals a fully-load wage rate of $61.64.

• Emergency Medical Service of 17.64 with a 1.4 benefit multiplier equals a fully-load wage rate of $24.70.

• Emergency Management Director of 39.01 with a 1.4 benefit multiplier equals a fully-load wage rate of $54.61.

• Volunteer and All Occupations (supervisor of Protective Services) of 25.02 with a 1.4 benefit multiplier equals a fully-load wage rate of $35.03.

13. There are no capital or start-up costs associated with this information collection.

14. The estimated annual cost to the federal government in relation to this information collection is $138,000.

The estimated annualized cost to the Federal government for this collection is calculated to be approximately $____. The following method was used to estimate the cost (based on General Schedule Grade _15_, step _6_ , 2018 WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE-NORTHERN VIRGINIA, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA locality, fully loaded annual pay of $______ ($89,285____ x 1.4 benefit multiplier = $125,000______)):

• Cost of the Federal Employee to review the form is estimated at __$125,000,____ Form: 1 personnel x 10% annual time = $_12,500______________

• Cost of the Contractor to review _$62.5 x 2000 hrs Form: 1 personnel x 100_% annual time = $__125,000_____________

Annualized Cost Analysis:

a. Printing cost: $0.00

b. Collecting and processing: $138,000

c. Total cost to program: $0.00

d. Fee charge: $0.00

15. This is a renewal of an information collection. There is no change in the program however there is an adjustment in the estimated time burden associated with this collection. The increase in cost reflects the change in estimating the labor cost and reflects the escalation in labor rates since the last collection.

16. DHS S&T does not intend to employ the use of statistics or the publication thereof for this information collection.

17. DHS S&T will display the expiration date for OMB approval of this information collect.

18. DHS S&T does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.

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