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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 76 (Monday, April 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22152-22153]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09011]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Agency Information Collection Activities: Regulation on Agency 
Protests

AGENCY: Office of Chief Procurement Officer, Acquisition Policy and 
Legislation Office, DHS.

ACTION: 60-Day Notice and request for comments; Extension without 
Change, 1600-0004.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security, Office of Chief 
Procurement Officer, Acquisition Policy and Legislation Office, will 
submit the following Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance 
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35).

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until June 20, 
2014. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.1.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and questions about this Information 
Collection Request should be forwarded to the Office of the Chief 
Procument Officer, Acquisition Policy and Legislation Office, DHS 
Attn.: Camara Francis, Department of Homeland Security, Office of the 
Chief Procurement Officer, Room 3114, Washington, DC 20528, 
Camara.Francis@hq.dhs.gov, 202-447-5904.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR); 48 
CFR Chapter 1 provides general procedures on handling protests 
submitted by contractors to federal agencies. This regulation provides 
detailed guidance for contractors doing business with acquisition 
offices within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement 
the FAR. FAR Part 33.103, Protests, Disputes, and Appeals prescribe 
policies and procedures for filing protests and for processing contract 
disputes and appeals.
    DHS will not be asking for anything outside of what is already 
required in the FAR. Should anything outside the FAR arise, DHS will 
submit a request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. 
The prior information collect request for OMB No. 1600-004 was approved 
through May 31, 2014 by OMB in a Notice of OMB Action.
    The information being collected will be obtained from contractors 
as part of their submissions whenever they file a bid protest with the 
Department's Components. The information will be used by DHS officials 
in deciding how the protest should be resolved. Failure to collect this 
information would result in delayed resolution of agency protests.
    According to Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), the number of 
protest has increased each year over the past two years in annual 
respondent and burden hours. This increase in current protest activity 
is not the result of a deliberate program change, but from a new 
estimate of actions that are not controllable by the Federal 
government. Although, the number of protest has increased, there has 
not been any change in the information being collected.
    The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in 
comments which:
    1. 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;
    2. 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;
    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 through the

[[Page 22153]]

use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other 
technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses.

Analysis

    Agency: Office of Chief Procurement Officer, Acquisition Policy and 
Legislation Office, DHS.
    Title: Regulation on Agency Protests.
    OMB Number: 1600-0004.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Affected Public: Private Sector.
    Number of Respondents: 95.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 2 hours.
    Total Burden Hours: 190.

    Dated: April 16, 2014.
Margaret H. Graves,
Deputy Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-09011 Filed 4-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-10-P
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