5598 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 21 / Tuesday, February 1, 2011 / Notices 

Name of Committee: Center for 

Scientific Review Special Emphasis 

Panel; Molecular Neuroscience. 

Date: February 22–23, 2011. 

Time: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: National Institutes of Health, 

6701 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, MD 

20892, (Virtual Meeting) 

Contact Person: Carol Hamelink, PhD, 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 

4192, MSC 7850, Bethesda, MD 20892, 

(301) 213–9887, hamelinc@csr.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Center for 

Scientific Review Special Emphasis 

Panel; Special Topics: Bioanalytical and 

Imaging Technologies. 

Date: February 23–24, 2011. 

Time: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: National Institutes of Health, 

6701 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, MD 

20892, (Virtual Meeting) 

Contact Person: Vonda K. Smith, PhD, 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 

6188, MSC 7892, Bethesda, MD 20892, 

301–435–1789, smithvo@csr.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Biology of 

Development and Aging Integrated 

Review Group; International and 

Cooperative Projects—1 Study Section. 

Date: February 24–25, 2011. 

Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: The Latham Hotel, 3000 M 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20007. 

Contact Person: Dan D. Gerendasy, 

PhD, Scientific Review Officer, Center 

for Scientific Review, National Institutes 

of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 

5132, MSC 7843, Bethesda, MD 20892, 

301–594–6830, gerendad@csr.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Center for 

Scientific Review Special Emphasis 

Panel; Drug Discovery for the Nervous 

System. 

Date: February 25, 2011. 

Time: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: National Institutes of Health, 

6701 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, MD 

20892, (Telephone Conference Call) 

Contact Person: Geoffrey G. Schofield, 

PhD, Scientific Review Officer, Center 

for Scientific Review, National Institutes 

of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 

4040–A, MSC 7850, Bethesda, MD 

20892, 301–435–1235, 

geoffreys@csr.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Center for 

Scientific Review Special Emphasis 

Panel; Small Business: Biological 

Chemistry and Biophysics. 

Date: February 28–March 1, 2011. 

Time: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: Doubletree Hotel Bethesda, 

8120 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD 

20814. 

Contact Person: Sergei Ruvinov, PhD, 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 

4158, MSC 7806, Bethesda, MD 20892, 

301–435–1180, ruvinser@csr.nih.gov. 

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Nos. 93.306, Comparative Medicine; 

93.333, Clinical Research, 93.306, 93.333, 

93.337, 93.393–93.396, 93.837–93.844, 

93.846–93.878, 93.892, 93.893, National 

Institutes of Health, HHS) 

Dated: January 25, 2011. 

Jennifer S. Spaeth, 

Director, Office of Federal Advisory 

Committee Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2011–2208 Filed 1–31–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

Services Administration 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

In compliance with Section 

3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 concerning 

opportunity for public comment on 

proposed collections of information, the 

Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

Services Administration (SAMHSA) 

will publish periodic summaries of 

proposed projects. To request more 

information on the proposed projects or 

to obtain a copy of the information 

collection plans, call the SAMHSA 

Reports Clearance Officer on (240) 276– 

1243. 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collections of information 

are necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden of the proposed collection 

of information; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (d) 

ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on 

respondents, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Proposed Project: Strategic Prevention 

Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF 

SIG) Program (OMB No. 0930–0279)— 

Revision 

SAMHSA’s Center for Substance 

Abuse Prevention (CSAP) is responsible 

for the evaluation instruments of the 

Strategic Prevention Framework State 

Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) Program. The 

program is a major initiative designed 

to: (1) Prevent the onset and reduce the 

progression of substance abuse, 

including childhood and underage 

drinking; (2) reduce substance abuse 

related problems; and, (3) build 

prevention capacity and infrastructure 

at the State-, territorial-, tribal- and 

community-levels. 

Five steps comprise the SPF: 

Step 1: Profile population needs, 

resources, and readiness to address the 

problems and gaps in service delivery. 

Step 2: Mobilize and/or build capacity 

to address needs. 

Step 3: Develop a comprehensive 

strategic plan. 

Step 4: Implement evidence-based 

prevention programs, policies, and 

practices and infrastructure 

development activities. 

Step 5: Monitor process, evaluate 

effectiveness, sustain effective 

programs/activities, and improve or 

replace those that fail. 

An evaluation team is currently 

implementing a multi-method, quasiexperimental evaluation of the first two 

Strategic Prevention Framework State 

Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) cohorts 

receiving grants in FY 2004 and FY 

2005. A second evaluation is being 

conducted with the SPF SIG Cohorts III, 

IV and V. This notice invites comments 

for revision to the protocol for the 

ongoing cross-site evaluations of the 

Strategic Prevention Framework State 

Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) (OMB No. 

0930–0279) which expires on 11/30/12. 

This revision includes three parts: 

(1) Continuation of the use of the 

previously approved two-part 

Community Level Instrument (CLI Parts 

I and II) for Cohorts I and II and the use 

of an instrument to assess the 

sustainability of grantee implementation 

and infrastructure accomplishments 

which is a modification of an 

instrument used in an earlier phase of 

the evaluation. 

(2) The addition of one more Cohort 

(Cohort V) which will use the 

previously approved SPF SIG cross-site 

evaluation instruments. All three 

instruments are modified versions of 

data collection protocols used by 

Cohorts I and II and have received OMB 

approval (OMB No. 0930–0279). The 

three instruments are: 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 21 / Tuesday, February 1, 2011 / Notices 5599 

a. A Grantee-Level SPF 

Implementation Instrument, 

b. A Grantee-Level Infrastructure 

Instrument, and 

c. A two-part Community-Level SPF 

Implementation Instrument. 

(3) Recalculation of burden numbers 

for Cohort IV to replace estimates that 

had been based on 20 grantees to reflect 

the 25 grantees actually funded. 

An additional Cohort III, IV, and V 

evaluation component (i.e., participantlevel NOMs outcomes) is also included 

in this submission as part of the 

comprehensive evaluation, however, no 

associated burden from this evaluation 

activity is being imposed and therefore 

clearance to conduct the activities is not 

being requested. Specifically, Cohort III, 

IV, and V SPF SIG grantees have been 

included in the currently OMB 

approved umbrella NOMs application 

(OMB No. 0930–0230) covering the 

collection of participant-level NOMs 

outcomes by all SAMHSA/CSAP 

grantees. 

Every attempt has been made to make 

the evaluation for Cohorts III, IV, and V 

comparable to Cohorts I and II. 

However, initial resource constraints for 

the Cohorts III, IV, and V evaluation 

have necessitated some streamlining of 

the original evaluation design. Since the 

ultimate goal is to fund all eligible 

jurisdictions, there are no control 

groups at the grantee level for Cohorts 

III, IV, and V. The primary evaluation 

objective is to determine the impact of 

SPF SIG on the reduction of substance 

abuse related problems, on building 

state prevention capacity and 

infrastructure, and preventing the onset 

and reducing the progression of 

substance abuse, as measured by the 

SAMHSA National Outcomes Measures 

(NOMs). Data collected at the grantee, 

community, and participant levels will 

provide information about process and 

system outcomes at the grantee and 

community levels as well as context for 

analyzing participant-level NOMs 

outcomes. 

Grantee-Level Data Collection 

Cohort I and II Continuation 

The Sustainability Interview will be 

conducted during Phase II of the 

evaluation in 2011 (Cohort I) and 2012 

(Cohort II). The interview guide is 

adapted from the Phase I instruments 

(OMB No. 0930–0279) and focuses on 

state-level prevention capacity and 

infrastructure in relation to the five 

steps of the SPF process: needs 

assessment, capacity building, strategic 

planning, implementation of evidencebased programs, policies, and practices 

(EBPPPs), and evaluation/monitoring. 

The interviews will be aimed at 

understanding the status of the 

prevention infrastructure at the time of 

the interview, whether the status has 

changed since the previous rounds of 

interviews (conducted in 2007 and 

2009), and whether the SPF SIG had any 

influence on changes that might have 

occurred. 

Cohort III, IV, and V Revision 

Two Grantee-level Instruments (GLI) 

were developed to gather information 

about the infrastructure of the grantee’s 

overall prevention system and collect 

data regarding the grantee’s efforts and 

progress in implementing the Strategic 

Prevention Framework 5-step process. 

Both instruments are modified versions 

of the grantee-level interview protocols 

used in the SPF SIG Cohort I and II 

Cross-Site Evaluation and have received 

OMB clearance for use with Cohorts III 

and IV (OMB No. 0930–0279). The total 

burden imposed by the original 

interview protocols has been reduced by 

restructuring the format of the original 

protocol, deleting several questions and 

replacing the majority of open-ended 

questions with multiple-choiceresponse questions. The Infrastructure 

Instrument will capture data to assess 

infrastructure change and to test the 

relationship of this change to outcomes. 

The Strategic Prevention Framework 

Implementation Instrument will be used 

to assess the relationship between SPF 

implementation and change in the 

NOMs. Information for both surveys 

will be gathered by the grantees’ 

evaluators twice over the life of the SPF 

SIG award. 

Based on the current 16 grantees 

funded in Cohort III, and 25 funded in 

Cohort IV, and 10 funded in Cohort V, 

the estimated annual burden for granteelevel data collection is displayed below 

in Table 1. The burden estimates for the 

GLIs are based on the experience in the 

Cohort I and II SPF SIG evaluation as 

reported in the original OMB 

submission (OMB No. 0930–0279), less 

the considerable reduction in length of 

these instruments implemented by the 

Cohort III, IV, and V evaluation team. 

Community-Level Data Collection 

(Continuation and Revision) 

Cohort I and II Continuation 

The Community-level Instrument 

(CLI) is a two part, Web-based survey for 

capturing information about SPF SIG 

implementation at the community level 

(originally submitted as an addendum to 

OMB No. 0930–0279). Part I of this 

instrument was developed to assess the 

progress of communities as they 

implement the Strategic Prevention 

Framework (SPF), and Part II was 

developed to gather descriptive 

information about the specific 

interventions being implemented at the 

community level and the populations 

being served including the gender, age, 

race, ethnicity, and number of 

individuals in target populations. Each 

SPF SIG funded community will 

complete a separate Part II form for each 

intervention they implement. 

The CLI (Parts I and II) was designed 

to be administered two times a year 

(every six months) over the course of the 

SPF SIG Cohort I and II initiative. Four 

rounds of data were collected under the 

current OMB approval period and the 

Cohorts I and II cross-site evaluation 

team plans to collect additional rounds 

once this request for a revision is 

approved. Data from this instrument 

will allow CSAP to assess the progress 

of the communities in their 

implementation of both the SPF and 

prevention-related interventions funded 

under the initiative. The data may also 

be used to assess obstacles to the 

implementation of the SPF and 

prevention-related interventions and 

facilitate mid-course corrections for 

communities experiencing 

implementation difficulties. 

The estimated annual burden for 

community-level data collection is 

displayed below in Table 1. Note that 

the total burden reflects the 443 

communities that have received SPF 

funds from their respective Cohort I and 

Cohort 2 States. Burden estimates are 

based on pilot respondents’ feedback as 

well as the experience of the survey 

developers reported in the original OMB 

submission (OMB No. 0930–0279). 

Additionally, an individual 

community’s burden may be lower than 

the burden displayed in Table 1 because 

all sections of the Community-level 

Instrument (parts I and II) may not 

apply for each reporting period as 

community partners work through the 

SPF steps and only report on the steprelated activities addressed. Note also 

that some questions will be addressed 

only once and the responses will be 

used to pre-fill subsequent surveys. 

Cohort III, IV, and V (Revision) 

The Community-Level Instrument to 

be completed by Cohort III, IV, and V 

funded subrecipient communities is a 

modified version of the one in use in the 

SPF SIG Cohorts I and II Cross-Site 

Evaluation and use of these modified 

instruments has been approved by OMB 

for Cohorts III and IV (OMB No. 0930– 

0279). The total burden imposed by the 

original instrument was reduced by 

reorganizing the format of the original 

instrument, optimizing the use of skip 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
5600 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 21 / Tuesday, February 1, 2011 / Notices 

patterns, and replacing the majority of 

open-ended questions with multiplechoice-response questions. 

Part I of the instrument will gather 

information on the communities’ 

progress implementing the five SPF SIG 

steps and efforts taken to ensure cultural 

competency throughout the SPF SIG 

process. Subrecipient communities 

receiving SPF SIG awards will be 

required to complete Part I of the 

instrument annually. Part 2 will capture 

data on the specific prevention 

intervention(s) implemented at the 

community level. A single prevention 

intervention may be comprised of a 

single strategy or a set of multiple 

strategies. A Part II instrument will be 

completed for each prevention 

intervention strategy implemented 

during the specified reporting period. 

Specific questions will be tailored to 

match the type of prevention 

intervention strategy implemented (e.g., 

Prevention Education, Communitybased Processes, and Environmental). 

Information collected on each strategy 

will include date of implementation, 

numbers of groups and participants 

served, frequency of activities, and 

gender, age, race, and ethnicity of 

population served/affected. 

Subrecipient communities’ partners 

receiving SPF SIG awards will be 

required to update Part II of the 

instrument a minimum of every six 

months. 

The estimated annual burden for 

specific segments of the communitylevel data collection is displayed in 

Table 1. The burden estimates for the 

CLIs are based on the experience in the 

Cohort I and II SPF SIG evaluation as 

reported in the original OMB 

submission (OMB No. 0930–0279), less 

the considerable reduction in length of 

these instruments implemented by the 

Cohort III, IV, and V evaluation team. 

The total burden assumes an average of 

15 community-level subrecipients per 

grantee (n=51 Grantees) for a total of 765 

community respondents, annual 

completion of the CLI Part I, a minimum 

of two instrument updates per year for 

the CLI Part II, and an average of three 

distinct prevention intervention 

strategies implemented by each 

community during a 6-month period. 

Additionally, some questions will be 

addressed only once and the responses 

will be used to pre-fill subsequent 

updates. 

Participant-Level Data Collection 

(Cohort III, IV, and V—Continuation) 

Participant-level change will be 

measured using the CSAP NOMs Adult 

and Youth Programs Survey Forms 

already approved by OMB (OMB No. 

0930–0230). Subrecipient communities 

will have the opportunity to select 

relevant measures from the CSAP NOMs 

Adult and Youth Programs Survey 

Forms based on site-specific targeted 

program outcomes and may voluntarily 

select additional outcome measures that 

are relevant to their own initiatives. 

Cohort III, IV, and V SPF SIG grantees 

have been included in the currently 

OMB approved umbrella NOMs 

application (OMB No. 0930–0230) 

covering all SAMHSA/CSAP grantees, 

therefore no additional burden for this 

evaluation activity is being imposed and 

clearance to conduct the activities is not 

being requested. 

Total Estimates of Annualized Hour 

Burden 

Estimates of total and annualized 

reporting burden for respondents by 

evaluation cohort are displayed below 

in Table 1. Overall summaries appear in 

Table 2. The estimated average annual 

burden of 5,773 hours is based on the 

completion of the Community LevelInstrument (CLI Parts I and II) and 

Sustainability Interview for Cohorts I 

and II, and the Grantee-level 

Instruments (GLI) and the CommunityLevel Instrument (CLI) for Cohorts III, 

IV, and V. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 21 / Tuesday, February 1, 2011 / Notices 5601 

TABLE 1—ESTIMATES OF

ANNUALIZED

HOUR

BURDEN TO

RESPONDENTS

Instrument type Respondent 

Burden per 

response 

(hrs.) 

No. of 

respondents 

No. of responses per 

respondent 

Total burden 

(hrs.) 

Hourly wage 

cost 

Total hour 

cost 

Cohorts 1 and 2 Grantee-Level Burden CLI Grantee Level Input ........................................................ Grantee ........................ 1 26 2 52.0 $42.00 $2,184 Sustainability Interview .......................................................... Grantee ........................ 1.5 26 1 39.0 42.00 1,638 

Total Burden ................................................................. Grantee ....................... 2.5 26 3 91.0 42.00 3,822 Average Annual Burden Over 4 Reporting Periods Grantee ....................... ........................ 26 ........................ 22.8 42.00 956 

Cohorts 1 and 2 Community-Level Burden CLI Part I ............................................................................... Community .................. 2.17 443 2 1,922.6 32.00 61,523 CLI Part II .............................................................................. Community .................. 2.17 443 8 7,690.5 32.00 246,095 Review of Past Responses ................................................... Community .................. 2.5 443 2 2,215.0 32.00 70,880 

Total Burden ................................................................. Community ................. 6.84 443 12 11,828.1 32.00 378,498 Average Annual Burden Over 4 Reporting Periods Community ................. ........................ 443 ........................ 2,957.0 32.00 94,625 

Grantee-Level Burden Cohort 3 GLI Infrastructure Instrument ................................................ Grantee ........................ 2. 50 16 1 40.0 42.00 1,680 GLI Implementation Instrument ............................................. Grantee ........................ 2.25 16 1 36.0 42.00 1,512 CLI Part I, 1–20: Community Contact Information—Updates Grantee ........................ 0.25 16 1 4.0 42.00 168 

Total Burden ................................................................. Grantee ....................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 80.0 42.00 3,360 Average Annual Burden Over 4 Reporting Periods Grantee ....................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 20.0 42.00 840 

Community-Level Burden Cohort 3 CLI Part I, 21–172: Community SPF Activities —Updates ... Community .................. 0.75 240 1 180 32.00 5,760 CLI Part II—Updates ............................................................. Community .................. 0.5 240 6 720 32.00 23,040 

Total Burden ................................................................. Community ................. ........................ ........................ ........................ 900 32.00 28,800 Average Annual Burden Over 4 Reporting Periods Community ................. ........................ ........................ ........................ 225 32.00 7,200 

Grantee-Level Burden Cohort 4 GLI Infrastructure Instruments .............................................. Grantee ........................ 2. 50 25 1 62.5 42.00 2,625 GLI Implementation Instruments ........................................... Grantee ........................ 2.25 25 2 112.5 42.00 4,725 CLI Part I, 1–20: Community Contact Information— 

Initialization.

Grantee ........................ 1.5 25 1 37.5 42.00 1,575 

CLI Part I, 1–20: Community Contact Information—Updates Grantee ........................ 0.25 25 3 18.75 42.00 787 

Total Burden ................................................................. Grantee ....................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 231.25 42.00 9,712 Average Annual Burden Over 4 Reporting Periods Grantee ....................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 57.8 42.00 2,428 

Community-Level Burden Cohort 4 CLI Part I, 21–172: Community SPF Activities 

—Initialization.

Community .................. 3 375 1 1,125 32.00 36,000 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
5602 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 21 / Tuesday, February 1, 2011 / Notices 

TABLE 1—ESTIMATES OF

ANNUALIZED

HOUR

BURDEN TO

RESPONDENTS—Continued 

Instrument type Respondent 

Burden per 

response 

(hrs.) 

No. of 

respondents 

No. of responses per 

respondent 

Total burden 

(hrs.) 

Hourly wage 

cost 

Total hour 

cost 

CLI Part II—Initialization ........................................................ Community .................. 0.75 375 6 1,687.5 32.00 54,000 CLI Part I, 21–172: Community SPF Activities—Updates .... Community .................. 0.75 375 3 843.75 32.00 27,000 CLI Part II—Updates ............................................................. Community .................. 0.5 375 18 3,375 32.00 108,000 

Total Burden ................................................................. Community ................. ........................ ........................ ........................ 7,031.25 32.00 225,000 Average Annual Burden Over 4 Reporting Periods Community ................. ........................ ........................ ........................ 1,757.8 32.00 56,250 

Grantee-Level Burden Cohort 5 GLI Infrastructure Instruments .............................................. Grantee ........................ 2. 5 10 2 50 42.00 2,100 GLI Implementation Instruments ........................................... Grantee ........................ 2.25 10 2 45 42.00 1,890 CLI Part I, 1–20: Community Contact Information— 

Initialization.

Grantee ........................ 1.5 10 1 15.0 42.00 630 

CLI Part I, 1–20: Community Contact Information—Updates Grantee ........................ 0.25 10 3 7.5 42.00 315 

Total Burden ................................................................. Grantee ....................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 117.5 42.00 4,935 Average Annual Burden Over 4 Reporting Periods Grantee ....................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 29.4 42.00 1,234 

Community-Level Burden Cohort 5 CLI Part I, 21–172: Community SPF Activities—Initialization Community .................. 3 150 1 450 32.00 14,400 CLI Part II—Initialization ........................................................ Community .................. 0.75 150 6 675 32.00 21,600 CLI Part I, 21–172: Community SPF Activities—Updates .... Community .................. 0.75 150 3 337.5 32.00 10,800 CLI Part II—Updates ............................................................. Community .................. 0.5 150 18 1,350 32.00 43,200 

Total Burden ................................................................. Community ................. ........................ ........................ ........................ 2,812.5 32.00 90,000 Average Annual Burden Over 4 Reporting Periods Community ................. ........................ ........................ ........................ 703.12 32.00 22,500 

TABLE 2—ANNUALIZED

SUMMARY

TABLE

Respondent 

Burden per 

response 

(hrs.) 

No. of respondents No. of re- sponses Total burden (hrs.) Hourly wage cost Total hour cost 

Total Burden All Cohorts 

Average Annual Burden ..................................................... Grantee ....................... 1.44 77 90.25 129.9 42.00 5,455 

Community ................. 1.04 1,208 5,424 5,643 32.00 180,576 Overall ........................ 1.05 1,285 5,514.25 5,773 ........................ 186,031 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 21 / Tuesday, February 1, 2011 / Notices 5603 

Send comments to Summer King, 

SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer, 

Room 7–1044, One Choke Cherry Road, 

Rockville, MD 20857 and e-mail a copy 

to summer.king@samhsa.hhs.gov. 

Written comments should be received 

within 60 days of this notice. 

Dated: January 24, 2011. 

Elaine Parry, 

Director, Office of Program Services. 

[FR Doc. 2011–2020 Filed 1–31–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4162–20–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Office of the Secretary 

[Docket No. DHS–2011–0003] 

Privacy Act of 1974; Department of 

Homeland Security Office of 

Operations Coordination and 

Planning—004 Publicly Available 

Social Media Monitoring and 

Situational Awareness Initiative 

System of Records 

AGENCY: Privacy Office, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of Privacy Act system of 

records. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Privacy Act of 1974, the Department of 

Homeland Security is giving notice that 

it proposes to establish a new 

Department of Homeland Security 

system of records titled, ‘‘Department of 

Homeland Security Office of Operations 

Coordination and Planning—004 

Publicly Available Social Media 

Monitoring and Situational Awareness 

Initiative System of Records.’’ The Office 

of Operations Coordination and 

Planning (OPS) National Operations 

Center (NOC), has launched and leads 

the Publicly Available Social Media 

Monitoring and Situational Awareness 

(Initiative) to assist the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) and its 

components involved in fulfilling OPS 

statutory responsibility to provide 

situational awareness. The NOC and 

participating components may share 

this de-identified information with 

international partners and the private 

sector where necessary and appropriate 

for coordination. While this Initiative is 

not designed to actively collect 

Personally Identifiable Information (PII), 

OPS is publishing this System of 

Records Notice (SORN) because the 

Initiative may collect PII for certain 

narrowly tailored categories. For 

example, in the event of an in extremis 

situation involving potential life and 

death, OPS will share certain PII with 

the responding authority in order for 

them to take the necessary actions to 

save a life, such as name and location 

of a person calling for help buried under 

rubble, or hiding in a hotel room when 

the hotel is under attack by terrorists. In 

the event PII comes into the 

Department’s possession under 

circumstances other than those itemized 

herein, the NOC will redact all PII prior 

to further dissemination of any collected 

information. This collection is currently 

covered under DHS/OPS–003 but in 

order to provide more transparency, 

DHS is issuing a specific SORN for this 

activity. This newly established system 

will be included in the Department of 

Homeland Security’s inventory of 

record systems. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

March 3, 2011. This new system will be 

effective March 3, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by docket number DHS– 

2011–0003 by one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 703–483–2999. 

• Mail: Mary Ellen Callahan, Chief 

Privacy Officer, Privacy Office, 

Department of Homeland Security, 

Washington, DC 20528. 

• Instructions: All submissions 

received must include the agency name 

and docket number for this rulemaking. 

All comments received will be posted 

without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. 

• Docket: For access to the docket to 

read background documents or 

comments received go to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general questions please contact: 

Michael Page (202–357–7626), Privacy 

Point of Contact, Office of Operations 

Coordination and Planning, Department 

of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 

20528. For privacy issues please 

contact: Mary Ellen Callahan (703–235– 

0780), Chief Privacy Officer, Privacy 

Office, Department of Homeland 

Security, Washington, DC 20528. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 

1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) Office of 

Operations Coordination and Planning 

(OPS), including the National 

Operations Center (NOC), proposes to 

establish a new DHS system of records 

titled, ‘‘DHS/OPS—004 Publicly 

Available Social Media Monitoring and 

Situational Awareness Initiative System 

of Records.’’ 

This system of records will allow 

DHS/OPS, including the NOC, to 

provide situational awareness and 

establish a common operating picture 

for the entire federal government, and 

for state, local, and tribal governments 

as appropriate, and to ensure that 

critical disaster-related information 

reaches government decision makers. 

See Section 515 of the Homeland 

Security Act (6 U.S.C. 321d(b)(1)). The 

law defines the term ‘‘situational 

awareness’’ as ‘‘information gathered 

from a variety of sources that, when 

communicated to emergency managers 

and decision makers, can form the basis 

for incident management decisionmaking.’’ OPS has launched and leads 

this Initiative to fulfill its legal mandate 

to provide situational awareness and 

establish a common operating picture. 

In doing so, OPS is working with select 

components within the Department to 

achieve this statutory mandate. This 

collection is currently covered under 

DHS/OPS–003 but in order to provide 

more transparency, DHS is issuing a 

specific SORN for this activity. 

The NOC will use Internet-based 

platforms that provide a variety of ways 

to follow activity related to monitoring 

publicly available online forums, blogs, 

public websites, and message boards. 

Through the use of publicly available 

search engines and content aggregators 

the NOC will monitor activities on 

social media for information that the 

NOC can use to provide situational 

awareness and establish a common 

operating picture. The NOC will gather, 

store, analyze, and disseminate relevant 

and appropriate de-identified 

information to federal, state, local, and 

foreign governments, and private sector 

partners authorized to receive 

situational awareness and a common 

operating picture. Under this initiative, 

OPS generally will not: (1) Actively seek 

personally identifiable information (PII); 

(2) post any information; (3) actively 

seek to connect with other internal/ 

external personal users; (4) accept other 

internal/external personal users’ 

invitations to connect; or (5) interact on 

social media sites. However, OPS is 

permitted to establish user names and 

passwords to form profiles and follow 

relevant government, media, and subject 

matter experts on social media sites in 

order to use search tools under 

established criteria and search terms for 

monitoring that supports providing 

situational awareness and establishing a 

common operating picture. 

Furthermore, PII on the following 

categories of individuals may be 

collected when it lends credibility to the 


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