Supporting Statement
1651-NEW
A. Justification
Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Attach a copy of the appropriate section of each statue and regulation mandating or authorizing the collection of information.
When the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner has made the determination that the death of a CBP employee is to be classified as a line-of-duty death (LODD), a Death Gratuity (DG) may become payable to the personal representative of the deceased. After the LODD determination is made, CBP will send the potential personal representative of the deceased a DG Information Sheet. This information sheet aids the involved CBP offices in establishing who the personal representative of the deceased is, approving DG, and subsequently, getting the payment paid to the correct person after CBP Commissioner approval.
Potential personal representatives are provided by/from the deceased CBP employee, through their executed beneficiary forms. However, if there are no beneficiary forms on file, next of kin will be identified via the emergency contact information listed with the agency for that employee in WebTele. Potential personal representatives will be required to provide the following data elements on the DG information sheet:
Name of Deceased CBP Employee
Date of Death
Location of Death
Name of Claimant/personal representative
Address of Claimant/personal representative (for payment)
Phone Number and Email Address of Claimant/personal representative
Relationship to Employee (i.e., spouse, child, parent, etc.)
If spouse, date of marriage
If child or parent, date of birth
First page of will, if applicable
Contact information for Executor of Estate, if applicable
Copy of Marriage Certificate, if applicable
Copy of Letters of Administration, if applicable
CBP is authorized to collect the information requested on this form pursuant to Public Law 104-208 which allows the agency to pay a DG in some situations of LODD. 110 Stat. 3009-368, Sept. 30, 1996; 5 U.S.C. 8133 note. In order to make this payment, CBP must first identify and obtain the information from the personal representative so it can be known where and to whom the payment should be sent. CBP Retirement and Benefits Advisory Services (RABAS) has the authority designated by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to provide retirement, benefits, and survivor counselling and processing. This authority is outlined in detail in the Civil Service Retirement System/Federal Employee Retirement System (CSRS/FERS) Handbook, Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Handbook, and Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) Handbook.
2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.
This information is used by CBP to issue a Death Gratuity Payment. The parties within CBP who are in anyway involved with this process and thus would have visibility on this collected information would be the Office of Human Resources Management (HRM), the Office of the Chief Counsel (OCC), Enterprise Services (ES), and the Office of the Commissioner (C1). The information would be used as outlined below:
HRM – This will be collected by the Retirement and Benefits Branch to route in a package through multiple levels of HRM for approval and submission forward for C1 approval.
OCC – Once the package obtains HRM review, OCC provides legal review to ensure legal compliance with the regulations of the Death Gratuity payment.
ES – Once OCC and HRM review are obtained, the package routes to ES for EAC approval to go forward to C1.
C1 – Once all other offices have reviewed, the full package is provided to C1 for final approval of the DG.
3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.
The DG information sheet is emailed as a PDF to the potential personal representative for completion. Once completed, the potential personal representative can either mail or email the form back to Retirement and Benefits Advisory Services
(RABAS). This email provision and/or return are the only electronic portions of obtaining the data on this form.
4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item 2 above.
This information is not duplicated in any other place or any other form.
5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities describe any methods used to minimize burden.
This information collection does not have an impact on small businesses or other small entities.
6. Describe consequences to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently.
Failure to collect this information would prevent CBP from processing claims death gratuities to the proper personal representatives in cases where that payment is payable.
Explain any special circumstances.
This information is collected in a manner consistent with the guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).
8. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public comments received in response to that notice and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments. Specifically address comments received on cost and hour burden.
Public comments were solicited through two Federal Register notices, a 60-day FRN published on September 08, 2022 (87 FR 55016) on which no comments were received, and a 30-day FRN published on April 27, 2023 (88 FR 25669) on which no comments have been received.
9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.
There is no offer of a monetary or material value for this information collection. However, those submitting this form may receive the Death Gratuity payment, based upon their eligibility and CBP Commissioner approval
10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.
An Appendix Updated PIA for the DHS/ALL/PIA-043 Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer Talent Acquisition, and a SORN for OPM/GOVT-9 File on Position Classification Appeals, Job Grading Appeals, Retained Grade or Pay Appeals, Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) Claims and Complaints, Federal Civilian Employee Compensation and Leave Claims, and Settlement of Accounts for Deceased Civilian Officers and Employees, October 1, 2013, 78 FR 60331, as modified by 80 FR 74815 (November 30, 2015) will be included in this ICR.
There are no assurances of confidentiality provided to the respondents of this information collection
11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. This justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.
There are no questions of a sensitive nature.
12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information.
INFORMATION COLLECTION |
TOTAL ANNUAL BURDEN HOURS |
NO. OF RESPONDENTS |
NO. OF RESPONSES PER RESPONDENT |
TOTAL RESPONSES |
TIME PER RESPONSE |
Death Gratuity Information Sheet |
8 hours
|
33
|
1 |
33
|
15 minutes |
Public Cost
The estimated cost to the respondents is $273. This is based on the estimated burden hours (8) multiplied by the average loaded hourly wage rate for general US population ($34.18). CBP calculated this loaded wage rate by first multiplying the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) 2021 median hourly wage rate for All Occupations ($22.00), which CBP assumes best represents the wage for general US population, by the ratio of BLS’ average 2021 total compensation to wages and salaries for All Workers (1.4915), the assumed occupational group for brokers, to account for non-salary employee benefits.1 CBP assumes an annual growth rate of 4.15% based on the prior year's change in the implicit price deflator, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information.
There are no record keeping, capital, start-up or maintenance costs associated with this information collection.
14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal Government. Also provide a description of the method used to estimate cost, which should include quantification of hours, operational expenses (such as equipment overhead, printing, and support staff), and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.
The estimated annual cost to the Federal Government associated with the review of these documents is $12,208. This is based on the number of responses that must be reviewed (33) multiplied by the time burden to review and process each response (5 hours or 300 minutes) = 165 hours multiplied by the average hourly loaded rate for other CBP employees ($73.99)2 = $12,208.
15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 12 or 13.
This is a new information collection.
16. For collection of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation, and publication.
This information collection will not be published for statistical purposes.
17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date, explain the reasons that displaying the expiration date would be inappropriate.
CBP will display the expiration date for OMB approval of this information collection.
18. “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.”
CBP does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.
No statistical methods were employed.
1 Source of median wage rate: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment Statistics, “May 2021 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates United States.” Updated March 31, 2022. Available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm. Accessed May 25, 2022. The total compensation to wages and salaries ratio is equal to the calculated average of the 2021 quarterly estimates (shown under Q01, Q02, Q03, Q04) of the total compensation cost per hour worked for All Workers ($47.65) divided by the calculated average of the 2021 quarterly estimates (shown under Q01, Q02, Q03, Q04) of wages and salaries cost per hour worked for the same occupation category ($31.9486). Source of total compensation to wages and salaries ratio data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation. “ECEC Civilian Workers - 2004 to Present.” March 2022. Available at https://www.bls.gov/web/ecec.supp.toc.htm. Accessed May 25, 2022.
2 CBP bases this wage on the FY 2022 salary and benefits of the national average of other CBP positions, which is equal to a GS-13, Step 1. Source: Email correspondence with CBP’s Office of Finance on June 27, 2022.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | Supporting Statement |
| Author | BBEBTV9 |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2023-09-10 |