FR1401_20190528_omb

Supporting Statement for the
Application Form for Membership on the Community Advisory Council
(FR 1401; OMB 7100-0371)
Summary
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), under authority
delegated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has extended, without revision, the
Application Form for Membership on the Community Advisory Council (Application) (FR 1401;
OMB 7100-0371). The Application is used to obtain information about the experience and
qualification of persons seeking to be considered for membership on the Community Advisory
Council of the Board (CAC). The Application collects an applicant’s contact information;
details regarding current employment and areas of expertise; a resume, which typically includes
information about employment history, education, and training; and a cover letter explaining
why the applicant is interested in serving on the CAC and what he or she believes are their
primary qualifications. Applicants can voluntarily elect to provide additional information to
support their application. The estimated total annual burden for the FR 1401 is 314 hours.
Background and Justification
In January 2015, the Board established the CAC as an advisory committee to the Board
on issues affecting consumers and communities. The CAC is composed of a diverse group of
experts and representatives of consumer and community development organizations and
interests, including from such fields as affordable housing, community and economic
development, employment and labor, financial services and technology, small business, and asset
and wealth building. CAC members meet semiannually with members of the Board in
Washington, DC to provide a range of perspectives on the economic circumstances and financial
services needs of consumers and communities, with a particular focus on the concerns of lowand moderate-income consumers and communities.
The CAC complements the Board’s other advisory councils – the Community Depository
Institutions Advisory Council and the Federal Advisory Council – whose members represent
depository institutions. The CAC serves as a mechanism to gather feedback and perspectives on
a wide range of policy matters and emerging issues of interest to the Board and aligns with the
Board’s mission and current responsibilities. These responsibilities include, but are not limited
to, banking supervision and regulatory compliance (including the enforcement of consumer
protection laws), systemic risk oversight and monetary policy decision-making, and, in
conjunction with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, responsibility for implementation of the Community Reinvestment Act.
Description of Information Collection
The Application collects the name, postal address, telephone number, and e-mail address
of the applicants, and asks the applicant to identify the subject areas in which the applicant
considers himself or herself to have expertise. In addition, applicants are asked to identify the
organization where they currently work, to provide their title, and to identify the type of

organization where they work. Lastly, applicants are asked to submit a resume and a cover letter
explaining why they are interested in serving on the CAC and what they believe are their primary
qualifications. Applicants may, at their option, submit any other information they choose.
The information required on the Application may be submitted using the Board’s secure
online application form (https://www.federalreserve.gov/secure/CAC/Application/); by e-mail
([email protected]); or by postal mail to the address listed in the Federal Register notice.
Time Schedule for Information Collection
The Application is completed and submitted to the Federal Reserve by all applicants who
seek to be considered for CAC membership. The Federal Reserve issues a Press Release and
publishes a Federal Register notice annually announcing when it is accepting applications for
membership. The Federal Register notice specifies the deadline for submitting applications,
which typically is 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Legal Status
The Application is authorized pursuant to the Board’s general authority to establish the
CAC, which is derived from sections 2A and 10 of the Federal Reserve Act (FRA). Section 2A
of the FRA requires the Board and the Federal Open Market Committee to maintain long run
growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy’s long run
potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment,
stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates (12 U.S.C. 225a). Section 10 of the FRA
authorizes the Board to “determine and prescribe the manner in which its obligations shall be
incurred and its disbursements and expenses allowed and paid” (12 U.S.C. 244). The obligation
to respond is required to obtain the benefit of consideration for CAC membership.
Information provided on the Application will be kept confidential under exemption 6 of
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to the extent that the disclosure of information “would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy” (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6)). For
example, the release of information such as an applicant’s address, home telephone number, and
personal e-mail address would likely constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy, and therefore, be kept confidential under exemption 6 of the FOIA. However, the
release of information such as the educational and professional qualifications of successful
applicants would not likely constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, and
may be disclosed under the FOIA. In addition, once a person becomes a member of the CAC,
their name, and the name and location of the organization where they are employed, would
generally be listed on the Board’s public website.
Determinations regarding disclosure to third parties of any confidential portions of the
information collection that are considered exempt under the FOIA would be made in accordance
with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a(b)). A hyperlink directing the applicant to the relevant
Privacy Act statement is provided in the Federal Register notice and also when the applicant fills
out the Application form on the Board’s website. The Board may make disclosures in
accordance with the Privacy Act’s routine use disclosure provision (5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(7) and

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(b)(3)), which permits the disclosure of a record for a purpose which is compatible with the
purpose for which the record was collected. Such routine uses are listed in the Board’s System
of Records Notice that applies to this information collection, which can be found in BGFRS-39,
FRB-General File of the Community Advisory Council, located here:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/files/BGFRS-39-general-file-of-the-community-advisorycouncil.pdf.
Consultation Outside the Agency
There has been no consultation outside the agency.
Public Comments
On January 31, 2019, the Board published an initial notice in the Federal Register
(84 FR 718) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, without revision, of the
FR 1401. The comment period for this notice expired on April 1, 2019. The Board did not
receive any comments. On May 22, 2019, the Board published a final notice in the Federal
Register (84 FR 23567).
Estimate of Respondent Burden
As shown in the table below, the estimated total annual burden for the FR 1401 is 314
hours. The estimated number of respondents is based on the average number of applicants that
submitted an application to be considered for CAC membership in response to the Federal
Register notices published from 2016 through 2018. These reporting requirements represent less
than 1 percent of the Board’s total paperwork burden.

FR 1401

Estimated
number of
respondents

Annual
frequency

Estimated
average hours
per response

Estimated
annual burden
hours

Current

314

1

1

314

The estimated total annual cost to the public for this information collection is $8,164.1
Sensitive Questions
This collection of information contains no questions of a sensitive nature, as defined by
OMB guidelines.
Estimate of Cost to the Federal Reserve System
The estimated cost to the Federal Reserve System for processing the Application is
negligible.
1

The average consumer cost of $26 is estimated using data from the BLS Economic News Release
(USDL-19-0307), www.bls.gov/news.release/cewqtr.nr0.htm.

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