DFC-003 - Supporting Statement

DFC-003
OMB-3015-[____]
Application for Political Risk Insurance
SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR APPROVAL
A.

Justification

1.

Legal authority for this information collection is found in the Better Utilization of
Investments Leading to Development Act of 2018 (the “BUILD Act”), Public Law 115-254.
Investors are required to apply for political risk insurance in order to obtain insurance from
the United States International Development Corporation (“DFC”). The DFC-003 serves as
proof of the investor’s request for insurance, and is used by the DFC to determine eligibility
for insurance, and assess the risks of the project in the host country. The information
collected by the DFC-003 with respect to each proposed project enables the DFC to comply
with its congressional mandate to manage the insurance program in a prudent manner, ensure
that projects meet all conditions and requirements of the insurance program and meet the
mission of the DFC. DFC-003 enables the DFC insurance officer to review the proposed
investment and make a determination as to the eligibility of the project for DFC political risk
insurance coverage.

2.

The Application for Political Risk Insurance will be the principal document used by the
agency to determine the investor’s and the project’s eligibility for political risk insurance and
will collect information for underwriting analysis. This form is completed with the use of a
web-based application. This provides a secure and efficient means for applicants to transmit
the required information to the agency. The information collected is not duplicated
elsewhere. The information is not already available in any other electronic form and would
not be requested by another federal agency since it is applicable solely to the DFC’s political
risk insurance program.

3.

The burden of collecting information does not vary with the size of the business requesting
political risk insurance from the DFC. DFC officers make a special effort, either in person
or by telephone, to assist small businesses in completing the DFC-003.

4.

Without this information, the DFC would be unable to effectively evaluate new requests for
political risk insurance. For example, the DFC is unable to support projects where the risks
are unacceptable to the DFC. DFC-003 enables the DFC to make a determination of project
risks and whether the DFC can support the project. This information also enables the DFC
to compare the level of interest and development of a project at the registration stage (DFC002) against the application stage (DFC-003). This information allows the DFC to collect
information to evaluate the effectiveness of the political risk insurance products in meeting
the DFC’s mission, and to adjust its programs as necessary. The DFC would not be able to
fulfill its mandate to evaluate projects if this information were not collected. Without a form
to collect the information, the amount of DFC staff time needed to gather the requisite
information would be significantly greater and would result in multiple requests for
information for program users. This would reduce the amount of time that could be devoted

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to underwriting and marketing OPIC programs, thereby reducing the productivity and
administrative efficiency of the insurance program.
5.

No special circumstances exist that require the information collection to be conducted in a
manner inconsistent with the guidelines of the Paper Reduction Act and OMB’s
implementing regulations.

6.

The first Federal Register Notice was published on March 22, 2019 (84 FR 10843). The
DFC received public comments in response to this notice. The second Federal Register
Notice was published on June 21, 2019 in 84 FY 29251. DFC reached out to a limited
number of previous applicants to receive feedback.

7.

No payments or gifts are offered to respondents.

8.

When trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information are submitted to the
agency in this collection, they will be held in confidence to the extent permitted by
applicable law including the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) at 5 U.S.C. section
552(b)(4) and the agency’s implementing regulations at 22 C.F.R. Part 706. Personal
information belonging to an individual will not be released under the FOIA unless the
information is already public or if the public interest is greater than the private interest
under 5 U.S.C. section 552(b)(6).

9.

Not applicable. None of the questions on DFC-003 are sensitive in nature.

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10.

The estimated hourly burden of collecting this information from respondents is as follows:
45
respondents per year
x1
per respondent
x3
average time for applicant to complete one response (3 hours per
response)
135
total respondent hours
x $75.00
Per hour for personnel, record keeping, overhead
$10,125
Total costs to respondents

The DFC collects one response per project.
11.

The estimated annualized cost to respondents is as follows:
a. Total capital and startup costs: $0
b. Total operation and maintenance costs: $0
All costs associated with the form are part of normal cost of doing business. Since all
submissions will be electronic and stored on the DFC’s secure servers, there will be no
postage costs.

12.

The estimated annualized cost to the Federal Government is as follows:
45
x1
45
x2
90
x $56.15
$5,053.50

total number of responses
per respondent
total annual responses
average time to review one response (2 hours)
total Federal hours
GS-14 step 1 hourly rate in DC metro area
total cost to Federal government

13.

This is a new information collection.

14.

Not applicable. DFC will not publish this information.

15.

Not applicable. The OMB expiration date will be printed on each copy of the form.

16.

Not applicable. No exceptions are being requested on the certification statement.

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