11514 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 2, 2011 / Notices 

Budget, Attn: DOJ Desk Officer. The best 

way to ensure your comments are 

received is to e-mail them to 

oira_submission@omb.eop.gov or fax 

them to 202–395–7285. All comments 

should reference the 8 digit OMB 

number for the collection or the title of 

the collection. If you have questions 

concerning the collection, please 

contact Sherry L. Kuneff at the address 

or fax number listed in the paragraph 

above or the DOJ Desk Officer at 202– 

395–3176. 

Written comments and suggestions 

from the public and affected agencies 

concerning the proposed collection of 

information are encouraged. Your 

comments should address one or more 

of the following four points: 

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency/component, 

including whether the information will 

have practical utility; 

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s/component’s estimate of the 

burden of the proposed collection of the 

information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including the use of 

appropriate automated, electronic, 

mechanical, or other technological 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology, e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of responses. 

Overview of This Information 

(1) Type of Information Collection: 

Approval of an Existing Collection. 

(2) Title of the Forms: The National 

Instant Criminal Background Check 

system (NICS) Point of contact (POC) 

State Final Determination Electronic 

Submission. 

(3) Agency Form Number, if any, and 

the applicable component of the 

department sponsoring the collection: 

Form Number: 1110–0035. 

Sponsor: Criminal Justice Information 

Services (CJIS) Division of the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 

Department of Justice (DOJ). 

(4) Affected Public who will be asked 

or required to respond, as well as a brief 

abstract: 

Primary: Full Point of Contact (POC) 

States, Partial POC States, the Bureau of 

Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 

Explosives (ATF)-qualified Alternate 

Permit States. 

Brief Abstract: This collection is 

requested of Full Point of Contact (POC) 

States, Partial POC States, and the 

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 

and Explosives (ATF)-qualified 

Alternate Permit States. Per 28 Code of 

Federal Regulations, Section 25.6(h), 

POC States are required to transmit 

electronic determination messages to 

the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 

Criminal Justice Information Services 

Division’s National Instant Criminal 

Background Check System (NICS) 

Section of the status of a firearm 

background check in those instances in 

which a transaction is ‘‘open’’ 

(transactions unresolved before the end 

of the operational day on which the 

transaction was initiated); ‘‘denied’’ 

transactions; transactions reported to 

the NICS as open and subsequently 

changed to proceed; and overturned 

denials. The State POC must 

communicate this response to the NICS 

immediately upon communicating their 

determination to the Federal Firearms 

Licensee or in those cases in which a 

response has not been communicated, 

no later than the end of the operational 

day in which the transaction was 

initiated. For those responses that are 

not received, the NICS will assume the 

transaction resulted in a ‘‘proceed.’’ 

(5) An estimate of the total number of 

respondents and the amount of time 

estimated for an average respondent to 

respond: 

There are 21 POC States who are 

required to submit electronic 

notifications to the FBI CJIS Division’s 

NICS Section and 18 ATF-qualified 

Alternate Permit States voluntarily 

submit electronic notifications to the 

FBI CJIS Division’s NICS Section. Both 

POC States and ATF-qualified Permit 

States conduct an average of 5,313,445 

transactions per year. It is estimated that 

26 percent would be affected by this 

collection and would require electronic 

messages sent to the NICS. This 

translates to 1,381,496 transactions, 

which would be the total number of 

annual responses. The other 74 percent 

would not be reported in this collection. 

It is estimated it will require one minute 

(60 seconds) for each POC State to 

transmit the information per transaction 

to the NICS. Thus, it is estimated that 

collectively all respondents will spend 

23,024 hours yearly submitting 

determinations to the NICS. If the 

number of transactions were distributed 

evenly among the POC States, then 590 

hours would be the estimated time for 

each of the 39 states to respond. Record 

keeping time is part of the routine 

business process and is not part of this 

calculation. 

(6) An estimate of the total public 

burden (in hours) associated with the 

collection: 

The average yearly hour burden for 

submitting final determinations 

combined is: (5,313,445 total checks × 

26 percent)/60 seconds = 23,024 hours. 

If additional information is required, 

contact: Ms. Lynn Murray, Department 

Clearance Officer, United States 

Department of Justice, Policy and 

Planning Staff, Justice Management 

Division, Two Constitution Square, 145 

N Street, NE., Suite 2E–502, 

Washington, DC 20530. 

Dated: February 23, 2011. 

Lynn Murray, 

Department Clearance Officer, PRA, United 

States Department of Justice. 

[FR Doc. 2011–4451 Filed 3–1–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Comment Request for information 

Collection for Employment and 

Training (ET) Handbook 361, 

Unemployment Insurance (UI) Data 

Validation (DV) (OMB Control No. 

1205–0431): Extension Without Change 

AGENCY: Employment and Training 

Administration, Labor. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort 

to reduce paperwork and respondent 

burden, the Department of Labor 

(Department) conducts a preclearance 

consultation program to provide the 

general public and Federal agencies 

with an opportunity to comment on 

proposed and/or continuing collections 

of information in accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This 

program helps to ensure that the 

requested data can be provided in the 

desired format, reporting burden (time 

and financial resources) is minimized, 

collection instruments are clearly 

understood, and the impact of collection 

requirements on respondents can be 

properly assessed. Currently, the 

Employment and Training 

Administration is soliciting comments 

concerning the collection of data about 

the Unemployment Insurance Data 

Validation program, for which 

collection authority expires on July 31, 

2011. 

A copy of the proposed information 

collection request (ICR) can be obtained 

by contacting the office listed below in 

the addressee section of this notice. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted to the office listed in the 

addressee section below on or before 

May 2, 2011. 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 2, 2011 / Notices 11515 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to 

Burman Skrable, Office of 

Unemployment Insurance, Employment 

and Training Administration, U.S. 

Department of Labor, Room S–4220, 200 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20210, telephone: 202–693–3197 

(this is not a toll-free number), fax: 202– 

693–3975, e-mail: 

skrable.burman@dol.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background: Section 303(a)(6) of the 

Social Security Act specifies that the 

Secretary of Labor will not certify State 

UI programs to receive administrative 

grants unless the State’s law includes 

provisions for— 

making of such reports * * * as the 

Secretary of Labor may from time to time 

require, and compliance with such 

provisions as the Secretary may from time to 

time find necessary to assure the correctness 

and verification of such reports. 

The Department considers data 

validation one of those ‘‘provisions 

* * * necessary to assure the 

correctness and verification’’ of the 

reports it requires. 

The Government Performance and 

Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) requires 

Federal agencies to develop annual and 

strategic performance plans that 

establish performance goals, have 

concrete indicators of the extent that 

goals are achieved, and set performance 

targets. Each year, the agency is to issue 

a report that ‘‘evaluate[s] the 

performance plan for the current fiscal 

year relative to the performance 

achieved toward the performance goals 

in the fiscal year covered by the report.’’ 

Section 1116(d)(2) of OMB Circular A– 

11, which implements the GPRA 

process, cites the Reports Consolidation 

Act of 2000 to emphasize the need for 

data validation by requiring that the 

agency’s annual performance report 

‘‘contain an assessment of the 

completeness and reliability of the 

performance data included in it [that] 

* * * describes any material 

inadequacies in the completeness and 

reliability of the data.’’ (OMB Circular 

A–11, Section 230.2(f)). The 

Administrations’ agenda has also 

emphasized the importance of complete 

information for program monitoring and 

improving program results to enhance 

the management and performance of the 

Federal government. 

The UI DV system is an extension of 

the Workload Validation (WV) program 

that all State Workforce Agencies were 

required to operate between the mid1970s and 2000. The WV program 

checked the validity of 29 report 

elements on four required UI reports, 

because they are combined into the 

‘‘workload items’’ used to apportion 

each State’s share of funds appropriated 

for the administration of the UI 

program. The UI DV program employs a 

refined and automated version of WV’s 

basic validation approach to review 322 

elements reported on 13 benefits reports 

and one tax report. The Department uses 

many of these elements for key 

performance measures as well as for the 

original workload items. The validation 

process assesses the validity (accuracy) 

of the counts of transactions or 

measurements of status as follows. In 

the validation process, guided by a 

detailed handbook, the state first 

constructs extract files containing all 

pertinent individual transactions for the 

desired report period to be validated. 

These transactions are grouped into 15 

benefits and five tax populations. Each 

transaction record contains the 

necessary characteristics or dimensions 

that enable it to be summed into an 

independent recount of what the state 

has already reported. The Department 

provides state agencies with software 

that edits the extract file (to identify and 

remove duplicate transactions and 

improperly built records, for example), 

then aggregates the transactions to 

produce an independent reconstruction 

or ‘‘validation count’’ of the reported 

figure. The reported count is considered 

valid by this ‘‘quantity’’ validation test if 

it is within ±2% of the validation count 

(±1% for a GPRA-related element). 

The software also draws samples of 

most transaction types from the extract 

files. Guided by a state-specific 

handbook, the validators review these 

sample records against documentation 

in the state’s management information 

system to determine whether the 

transactions in the extract file are 

supported by system documentation. 

This qualitative check determines 

whether the validation count can be 

trusted as accurate. The benefits extract 

files are considered to pass this 

‘‘quality’’ review if random samples 

indicate that no more than 5% of the 

records contain errors; tax files are 

subjected to different but related tests. A 

reported count is considered valid only 

if it differs from a reconstructed 

(validation) count by no more than the 

appropriate criterion of ±2% or ±1%, 

and that validation count comes from an 

extract file that has satisfied all quality 

tests. 

During FY 2011 and beyond, all states 

will be required to conduct a complete 

validation every three years. In three 

cases the three-year rule does not apply, 

and a revalidation must occur within 

one year: (1) Groups of reported counts 

that are summed for purposes of making 

a Pass/Fail determination and do not 

pass validation by being within ±2% of 

the reconstructed counts or the extract 

file does not pass all quality tests; (2) 

the validation applies to the two 

benefits populations and one tax 

population used for GPRA measures; 

and (3) reports are produced by new 

reporting software. 

II. Review Focus: The Department of 

Labor is particularly interested in 

comments which: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; 

• Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

• Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

• Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including through the 

use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology, 

e.g., permitting electronic submission of 

responses. 

III. Current Actions: 

Title: Unemployment Insurance Data 

Validation Program. 

OMB Number: 1205–0431. 

Affected Public: State Workforce 

Agencies (SWAs). 

Form: ET Handbook 361: 

Unemployment Insurance Data 

Validation Benefits and Tax (Issued as 

separate handbooks). 

Total Annual Respondents: 53. 

Annual Frequency: At least three 

validation items per state (two benefits 

populations and one tax population). 

Total Annual Responses: Depends on 

number of validation items due; at least 

53 x 3 = 159 per year. 

Average Time per Response: 550 

hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 29,150 hours. 

Total Annual Burden Cost for 

Respondents: $0. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of the information collection 

request; they will also become a matter 

public record. 

Dated: February 25, 2011. 

Jane Oates, 

Assistant Secretary, Employment and 

Training Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2011–4648 Filed 3–1–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FT–P 


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