The purpose of this authority is to
ensure the timely delivery of products, materials, and services to
meet current national defense requirements. The definition of
“national defense” in Section 702(14) of the DPA provides that this
term includes “homeland security,” “emergency preparedness
activities” conducted pursuant to Section 602 of the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford
Act) (42 U.S.C. 5195a), and “critical infrastructure protection and
restoration.” The President exercised his authority pursuant to the
DPA to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in Executive Orders 13909
and 13910, authorizing the Secretary of Health and Human Services
to prioritize and allocate health and medical resources and prevent
hoarding of such resources to respond to the spread of COVID-19.
Pursuant to Executive Order 13911, the President has also delegated
to the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority conferred by
section 101 of the DPA and the authority to promulgate regulations
necessary to implement the Executive Order. The Secretary of
Homeland Security has further delegated this authority to the FEMA
Administrator in DHS Delegation 09052 Rev. 00.1 (Apr. 1, 2020).
Because of the substantial risk to life, safety, or health of
individuals due to the shortage in emergency medical products,
materials, and equipment supporting distribution infrastructure,
and other life- sustaining products, materials, and equipment
related to COVID-19 treatment, FEMA requests an emergency approval
to collect the necessary information from contractors when placing
rated orders with suppliers, to obtain timely delivery of products,
materials, equipment, or services from suppliers, or for any other
reason under the EMPAS, in support of approved national programs.
To help ensure the timely delivery of goods and services in support
of approved emergency management programs, section 333.13 of the
EMPAS regulation requires suppliers to accept or reject priority
rated orders for these goods and services which are placed with
them by their customers within established time periods (10 working
days for a “DX” rated order and 15 working days for a “DO” rated
order). Section 333.13 also requires that certain emergency
preparedness rated orders must be accepted or rejected within
shorter time periods as specified in section 333.12(b). Section
333.13(d)(3) of the EMPAS regulation requires that, if after
acceptance of a rated order the supplier discovers that shipment or
performance against the order will be delayed, the supplier must
notify the customer immediately in written electronic format,
giving the reasons for the delay, and advising the customer of a
new shipment or performance date. This collection of information
involves order communications between a Federal Government prime
contractor and its subcontractors. Finally, under section 333.70
each request for adjustment or exception must be in writing and
contain a complete statement of all the facts and circumstances
related to 44 CFR part 333 or official action from which adjustment
is sought and a full and precise statement of the reasons why
relief should be provided. Under section 333.71, any person who has
had a request for adjustment or exception denied by FEMA under
section 333.70 may appeal to the Administrator. Each appeal must be
in writing and contain a complete statement of all the facts and
circumstances related to the action appealed from a full and
precise statement of the reasons the decision should be modified or
reversed. Regarding customer notification of the acceptance of
rated orders, the rejection of rated orders, and the delay of rated
orders, the Federal Government does not typically receive
information under this collection unless FEMA is facilitating a
sale to a third party.
The Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) seeks to utilize the emergency process for
approval for a new information collection to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Collection 1660-NEW Rated Orders
Adjustments, Exceptions, or Appeals Under the Emergency Management
Priorities and Allocations System (EMPAS) in accordance with Title
I of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA), as amended (50
U.S.C. 4501, et seq.) and Executive Order 13603, 77 FR 16651 (Mar.
22, 2012) and Executive Order 13911, 85 FR 18403 (Apr. 1, 2020). It
is vital that FEMA implement the information collection as soon as
possible to support immediate needs in response to the COVID-19
pandemic.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
EMPAS IFR.pdf
Rated Orders Supporting Statement A.docx
44 CFR part 333