U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Information Collection Request
Title: Background Checks for Contractor Employees (Renewal)
OMB Control Number: 2030-0043
EPA ICR Number: 2159.09
Abstract: This information collection request (ICR) applies to background checks for specified contractor employees working in sensitive locations or sensitive projects who are not otherwise covered by a background check in accordance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12). The EPA uses contractors to perform services throughout the nation with regard to environmental emergencies involving the release, or threatened release, of oil, radioactive materials or hazardous chemicals that may potentially affect communities and the surrounding environment. Releases may be accidental, deliberate, or may be caused by natural disasters. The information is collected for each employee who will be working at sensitive sites or in sensitive positions which could involve law enforcement activities, indoor cleanups (including occupied household residences), drug lab cleanups, and emergency response actions at geographically sensitive locations such as military installations and Government buildings.
The Agency may request contractors responding to any of these types of incidents to conduct background checks and apply Government-established suitability criteria in determining whether employees are acceptable to perform on given sites or on specific projects. In addition to emergency response contractors, EPA may require background checks for contractor personnel working in sensitive sites or on sensitive projects. The background checks and application of the Government’s suitability criteria must be completed prior to contract employee performance. The contractor shall maintain records associated with all background checks.
Supporting Statement A
Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection.
The legal authority for this collection is Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 731, 732, and 736. The EPA has a responsibility to protect the public, Agency employees, and contractors through a background check and application of Government-established suitability criteria to ensure reliability, trustworthiness, and good conduct and character. This process is necessary to allow the EPA to meet its responsibilities and mitigate any threat to the public health, welfare and the environment.
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.
Information collected by contractors for performing background checks is necessary for applying the Government-established suitability criteria on contract employees before the individual employees perform contractual services for the EPA.
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.
EPA background checks are done based on guidance from the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12, and current EPA policy states that individuals must not have a weapons offense in the last five years or a felony conviction in the last three years in order to be qualified to work at an EPA response site. At sensitive sites, the individual cannot have a weapons offense in the past ten years, a felony conviction in the last seven years, or a misdemeanor conviction in the last five years. Current EPA procedures allow for a waiver process if a contractor feels an individual is otherwise qualified and the nature of the conviction or misdemeanor does not pose a risk to the current work. Contractors must maintain the records of their background checks and application of the Agency’s suitability criteria, for as long as the employee is employed under the contact for which they were hired.
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.
Information requested from a contractor’s employee to determine suitability to perform on a response contract is unique to a specific individual; this information cannot be obtained without a background check.
If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.
Separate or further simplified requirements for small entities are not practical because the stated objectives cannot be met under such alternatives. The requirements of the information collection apply to the awardees of the contract. Reasonable expense associated with the EPA background checks is reimbursable so small businesses are not expected to experience financial difficulties in fulfilling these requirements. There are also numerous commercial sources that perform background checks.
Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.
The information provided by the contractors’ employees is collected once prior to the employee performing work for EPA. The requirement for a background check and application of the Government’s suitability criteria cannot be met with a less frequent collection.
Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with PRA Guidelines at 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).
This ICR does not exceed any of the OMB guidelines found 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).
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 previously requested via the Federal Register (86 FR 6320) on May 29, 2024, during a 60-day comment period. No comments were received.
8b. Consultations
Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the Agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported. Consultation with representatives of those from whom information is to be obtained or those who must compile records should occur at least once every 3 years - even if the collection of information activity is the same as in prior periods. There may be circumstances that may preclude consultation in a specific situation. These circumstances should be explained.
To determine contractor burden associated with the information collection identified in this request, the following vendors were contacted several times but did not respond; therefore, the estimated burden figures from the existing ICR are considered to still be applicable. Estimated time to complete the information collection is described in Section 6, Estimating the Burden and Cost of the Collection.
Firm___________
Tech Law
Weston Solutions
Sovereign Consulting
Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.
No payments or gifts are provided.
ASSURANCE OF CONFIDENTIALITY
Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or Agency policy. If the collection requires a systems of records notice (SORN) or privacy impact assessment (PIA), those should be cited and described here.
The EPA will neither collect contractor employee information nor maintain it. The EPA is responsible for receiving the suitability notification from contractors. The information submitted to HQAD is maintained and protected in accordance with Privacy Act requirements.
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.
No questions concerning sexual behavior or attitudes, religious beliefs, or other matters usually considered private are included in this information collection.
Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. The statement should:
Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated. Generally, estimates should not include burden hours for customary and usual business practices.
If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form and the aggregate the hour burdens.
Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories. The cost of contracting out or paying outside parties for information collection activities should not be included here. Instead, this cost should be included as O&M costs under non-labor costs covered under question 13.
Information is collected from employees of the contractors and subcontractors who perform work in sensitive sites or sensitive projects corresponding with the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 562910 for Remediation Services.
The contractors’ employees will be required to provide information such as name, social security number, proof of US citizenship or legal resident status, employment history, education, military service, and address of residence. The information is collected by each contractor from each employee who will be working at sensitive sites or in sensitive positions which could involve law enforcement activities, indoor cleanups (including occupied household residences), drug lab cleanups, and emergency response actions at geographically sensitive locations such as military installations and Government buildings.
Submissions are accepted in any format so long as they include the requested data. No information is submitted to the Agency, but compliance is mandatory, and no employee may work on a response site without meeting the Government-established suitability criteria unless the requirement has been waived. On a case-by-case basis, the Headquarters Acquisitions (HQAD) Director may either temporarily or permanently waive the requirements if they determine in writing that these requirements are not necessary at a specific location, or for a specific individual, in order to protect the Government’s interests.
The suitability criteria have been developed by the Government to determine that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an individual will likely be able to perform the contract requirements on a sensitive site or in a sensitive position without undue risk to the interests of the Government. Once the contractor has applied the criteria, and the employee has met the requirements as prescribed in the Performance Work Statement or Statement of Work, contractors must notify the HQAD Director.
Information will be collected periodically as individuals are requested to work at a sensitive site or in a sensitive position under new or existing contracts.
After performing a background check and applying the Government’s suitability criteria for an employee, the contractor must notify the contracting officer that the background checks and the application for the Government’s suitability criteria have been completed and that named individuals are suitable to work on a specific contract. If a contractor employee’s background check does not meet the suitability criteria, but the contractor wants the employee to work on the response site, the contractor must submit a waiver request to the division director of the Office of Acquisition Solutions (OAS) Headquarters Acquisitions (HQAD) Director.
12d. Respondent Burden Hours and Labor Costs
Respondent burden estimates for this collection are based upon interviews with the contractors identified in 3(c) above and discussions with Agency personnel. The Agency anticipates that the contractor burden for complying with this requirement includes the time it takes for employees to provide the required information, the time to manage a subcontract for background checks, the administrative time to apply the Government’s suitability criteria, the time to notify the Agency, and the effort to maintain the records.
Respondent Cost Estimate
Burden Loaded
Step Collection Activity Labor Category Hours Rate__ Cost
1. Time to fill out information Employee 0.25 hour $ 73.98 $ 18.49
2. Cost to perform Background flat rate $ 75.00
Check (Third party/Subcontractor)
3. Review/apply HR Manager 0.25 hour $200.80 $ 50.20
suitability criteria
4. Submit notification HR Manager 0.25 hour $200.80 $ 50.20
5. Maintain files Admin. Support 0.25 hour $ 59.34 $ 14.83
1 hour
Estimated Respondent Cost per Background Check $208.72
Step 1 of the information collection is completed by a contractor employee working at a sensitive site. On average, respondents stated this process normally takes the employee about 15 minutes to complete. The cost for Step 2, having a third party perform a background check, is based upon market research and input from the vendors surveyed. Vendors’ costs for this activity ranged from $25 to $175. The cost varies depending on the number of background checks purchased per year, the parameters of the checks, as well as the individual employee (for instance, a background check for an employee who has only lived in one state will be less than the cost for an employee who has lived in many places). The median price of the research performed is $75 which is the figure used for the purpose of this ICR. Steps 3 and 4, reviewing suitability and notifying EPA, are performed by a human resource-type manager or a security manager responsible for personnel management. Administrative support personnel are responsible for completing step 5, which includes filing the background check in personnel records.
The cost associated with this effort was estimated using hourly rates based upon the May 2019 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates published by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The occupational categories used are Hazardous Materials Removal Workers, Human Resource Manager, and Office and Administrative Support.
Since the labor rates used in this estimate are from 2019, an escalation factor of 3% was applied for each year to determine an average wage for the respective year. The cost for each labor category was determined by multiplying the escalated hourly labor rate by an estimated loading factor of 2.95 to reflect industries’ overhead, fringe benefits, and general and administrative costs for each year (2021-2023) that the ICR will be in effect. The 2.95 estimate was provided by an EPA cost analyst as representative of average labor related burdens experienced by EPA contractors. The loaded labor costs for 2021 through 2023 were added together then divided by three (number of years for the ICR) to arrive at an annualized labor cost for each labor category.
The following are the loaded labor rates used in the calculations in the table above:
Employee – Hazardous Materials Removal Worker:
2019 = $22.95
2020 = ($22.95 x 1.03) = $23.63
2021 = ($23.63 x 1.03) = $24.34 x 2.95 = $ 71.82
2022 = ($24.34 x 1.03) = $25.07 x 2.95 = $ 73.95
2023 = ($25.07 x 1.03) = $25.82 x 2.95 = $ 76.17
$221.94/3 = $73.98
Human Resource Manager:
2019 = $62.29
2020 = ($62.29 x 1.03) = $64.15
2021 = ($64.15 x 1.03) = $66.07 x 2.95 = $ 194.91
2022 = ($66.07 x 1.03) = $68.05 x 2.95 = $ 200.75
2023 = ($68.05 x 1.03) = $70.09 x 2.95 = $ 206.76
$ 602.42/3 = $200.80
Administrative Support:
2019 = $18.41
2020= ($18.41 x 1.03) = $18.96
2021 = ($18.96 x 1.03) = $19.53 x 2.95 = $ 57.61
2022 = ($19.53 x 1.03) = $20.11 x 2.95 = $ 59.32
2023 = ($20.11 x 1.03) = $20.71 x 2.95 = $ 61.10
$178.03/3 = $59.34
Based on our research for this ICR, on average over the next three years approximately 3,000 existing respondents will be subject to the standard. No additional respondents per year will become subject.
The Agency estimated this number of employees by reviewing current contract databases, interviews with contractors and information received from the regions.
There are both small and large businesses working in the field with diverse response site situations that require large variations in the number of employees. Contractors may be on-site for a few days or many years depending on the situation. Per the EPA Office of Acquisition Solutions active contract list, there are currently 45 contracts which include a requirement for contractors to perform background checks on employees working at sensitive sites. The number of employees with background checks for each contract ranges from 5-350 per year, not counting subcontracts. Many contracts require employees to be prepared to report to work locations with no notice. Therefore, these employees must have background checks and meet the Government’s suitability criteria even if not continuously located on-site.
Additionally, there are contractors working at their own facilities or at other than government locations who work on sensitive locations or on sensitive projects. These may include, but are not limited to, maintenance of anti-terrorism equipment warehouses, water systems, environmental information, private laboratories working on genetically modified herbicides and pathogens, and law enforcement activities.
The number of employees needed at each sensitive site varies depending on the size and nature of the cleanup. Therefore, it is very difficult to ascertain the exact number of employees on which background checks are being performed. The estimate of 1,000 represents our best estimate given current information.
The annual respondent burden for this ICR is 1,000 hours at an estimated cost of $208,720. The hours were calculated by multiplying the number of hours per occurrence, which is one, by the number of annual occurrences, 1,000. The cost was calculated by multiplying the respondent burden cost of $208.72 per background check by the number of annual occurrences, 1,000. The estimated respondent cost over the life of the three-year ICR is $626,160 ($208,720 x 3 years). The previous estimate for annual respondent cost was $190,900 per year.
Provide an estimate for the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information. (Do not include the cost of any hour burden already reflected on the burden worksheet).
The cost estimate should be split into two components: (a) a total capital and start-up cost
component (annualized over its expected useful life) and (b) a total operation and maintenance and purchase of services component. The estimates should consider costs associated with generating, maintaining, and disclosing or providing the information. Include descriptions of methods used to estimate major cost factors including system and technology acquisition, expected useful life of capital equipment, the discount rate(s), and the period over which costs will be incurred. Capital and start-up costs include, among other items, preparations for collecting information such as purchasing computers and software; monitoring, sampling, drilling, and testing equipment; and record storage facilities.
If cost estimates are expected to vary widely, agencies should present ranges of cost burdens and explain the reasons for the variance. The cost of purchasing or contracting out information collections services should be a part of this cost burden estimate.
Generally, estimates should not include purchases of equipment or services, or portions thereof, made: (1) prior to October 1, 1995, (2) to achieve regulatory compliance with requirements not associated with the information collection, (3) for reasons other than to provide information or keep records for the government, or (4) as part of customary and usual business or private practices.
Respondents will not be required to acquire capital goods to provide the requested information; therefore, capital start-up costs have not been included in this estimate.
Operating and maintenance costs, which include such items as file storage, photocopying, and postage, will be nominal.
Provide estimates of annualized costs 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.
14a. Agency Activities
EPA contracting officers are responsible for ensuring that they have received notification from the contractor that all of its employees working at sensitive sites have undergone a background check and have met the Government-established suitability criteria.
14b. Agency Labor Cost
EPA background checks are done based on guidance from the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12, and current EPA policy states that individuals must not have a weapons offense in the last five years or a felony conviction in the last three years in order to be qualified to work at an EPA response site. At sensitive sites, the individual cannot have a weapons offense in the past ten years, a felony conviction in the last seven years, or a misdemeanor conviction in the last five years. Current EPA procedures allow for a waiver process if a contractor feels an individual is otherwise qualified and the nature of the conviction or misdemeanor does not pose a risk to the current work. Contractors must maintain the records of their background checks and application of the Agency’s suitability criteria, for as long as the employee is employed under the contact for which they were hired.
14c. Agency Non-Labor Costs
Agency burden for responses to background check and application of Government suitability criteria.
Labor Loaded
Step Collection Activity Category Burden Hours _Rate_ Cost
1. Ensure Compliance and GS-13 0.25 hour $113.54 $28.38
document file
Estimated Agency cost per background check $28.38
Performing background checks and applying the Government’s suitability criteria are the responsibility of the EPA contractor. The Agency is primarily responsible for ensuring that contractors notify the Agency that a background check and application of the suitability criteria have been completed for all applicable employees. The Agency’s current effort is estimated to be performed by an employee at the GS-13 level and will take approximately fifteen minutes, which is about the same as previous years. The GS-13 hourly salary for 2020 with a locality pay for “Rest of US” is $49.54, and a 3 percent escalation factor has been applied for any cost-of-living increases given to federal workers in 2021, 2022 or 2023. These wage rates were then multiplied by a factor of 2.16 to reflect Federal employee benefits. The 2.16 estimate was provided by an EPA cost analyst as representative of labor-related burdens for government employees. The loaded labor costs for 2021 thru 2023 were added together then divided by three (number of years for the ICR) for an annualized loaded rate of $113.54 for the three years the ICR is in effect.
2021 = ($49.54 x 1.03) = $51.02 x 2.16 = $110.20
2022 = ($51.02 x 1.03) = $52.55 x 2.16 = $113.51
2023 = ($52.55 x 1.03) = $54.13 x 2.16 = $116.91
$340.62/3 = $113.54
The annual Agency burden and cost over the next three years is estimated to be 250 hours. This is calculated by multiplying the estimated burden hours per background check, which is 0.25, by the number of annual occurrences, 1,000 to arrive at 250 hours.
The total annual Agency cost for this collection request is estimated at $28,385.50. This amount is calculated by multiplying the number of hours, 250, by the contracting officer’s loaded rate of $113.54 per hour. The estimated Agency cost over the life of the three-year ICR is $85,155.
REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN
Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in the burden or capital/O&M cost estimates.
There is no change of hours in the total estimated respondent burden compared with the ICR currently approved by OMB. The loaded labor costs were adjusted upwards to account for inflation.
For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.
DISPLAY OF EXPIRATION DATE
If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.
EPA will display the expiration date for OMB approval.
Explain each exception to the topics of the certification statement identified in “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.”
There are no exceptions to the topics of the certification.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | 18Q Supporting Statement Instructions_draft |
| Author | McGrath, Daniel |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2024-11-28 |