[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 118 (Wednesday, June 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32960-32965]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13110]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Docket No. CISA-2021-0009]


Revision of a Currently Approved Information Collection for the 
Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Personnel Surety 
Program

AGENCY: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, DHS.

ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for comments; revision of information 
collection request: 1670-0029.

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    Authority: 6 U.S.C. 621-629.

SUMMARY: The Infrastructure Security Division (ISD) within the 
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is issuing a 
60-day notice and request for comments to revise Information Collection 
Request (ICR) 1670-0029. CISA will submit the ICR to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Comments are due August 23, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number CISA-
2021-0009 through the Federal eRulemaking Portal available at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All comments received via https://www.regulations.gov 
will be posted to the public docket at https://www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided.
    Do not submit comments that include trade secrets, confidential 
commercial or financial information, Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability 
Information (CVI), Protected Critical Infrastructure Information 
(PCII), or Sensitive Security Information (SSI) directly to the public 
regulatory docket. Contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section below with questions about comments 
containing such protected information. CISA will not place comments 
containing such protected information in the public docket and will 
handle them in accordance with applicable safeguards and restrictions 
on access. Additionally, CISA will hold them in a separate file to 
which the public does not have access and place a note in the public 
docket that CISA has received such protected materials from the 
commenter. If CISA receives a request to examine or copy this 
information, CISA will treat it as any other request under the Freedom 
of Information Act (FOIA).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lona Saccomando, 202-579-0590, 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#45060c1604172022302924312c2a2b3605262c36246b212d366b222a33"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a7e4eef4e6f5c2c0d2cbc6d3cec8c9d4e7c4ced4c689c3cfd489c0c8d1">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CFATS Program identifies chemical 
facilities of interest and regulates the security of high-risk chemical 
facilities through a risk-based approach. The CFATS Program is 
authorized under the Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from 
Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014 \1\ or ``CFATS Act of 2014''. CISA 
collects necessary information through 1670-0029 to implement the CFATS 
Personnel Surety Program.
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    \1\ The Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from 
Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014 (also known as the CFATS Act of 2014, 
Pub. L. 113-254) codified the CFATS program into the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002. See 6 U.S.C. 621 et seq., as amended by Public 
Law 116-136, Sec. 16007 (2020).
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Program Description

    High-risk chemical facilities regulated by CISA under the CFATS 
Program must submit a Site Security Plan (SSP) or an Alternative 
Security Program (ASP) that describes how they will meet or exceed 18 
risk-based performance standards (RBPS), including RBPS 12--Personnel 
Surety. Under RBPS 12, high-risk chemical facilities regulated under 
CFATS are required to account for the conduct of certain types of 
background checks in their Site Security Plans. Specifically, RBPS 12 
requires high-risk chemical facilities to:

    Perform appropriate background checks on and ensure appropriate 
credentials for facility personnel, and as appropriate, for 
unescorted visitors with access to restricted areas or critical 
assets, including, (i) Measures designed to verify and validate 
identity; (ii) Measures designed to check criminal history; (iii) 
Measures designed to verify and validate legal authorization to 
work; and (iv) Measures designed to identify people with terrorist 
ties[.]6 CFR 27.230(a)(12).

    The first three aspects of RBPS 12 (checks for identity, criminal 
history, and legal authorization to work) are performed by the 
facility. The fourth aspect (i.e., the check for terrorist ties) was 
implemented in December 2016 at Tier 1 and Tier 2 facilities.\2\ In 
July of 2019 the Department implemented the CFATS Personnel Surety 
Program for all tiers.\3\ A complete description of the CFATS Personnel 
Surety Program is provided in the July 2019 notice and

[[Page 32961]]

additional information can be found on CISA's website.\4\
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    \2\ The initial notice of implementation was published on 
December 18, 2015 at 80 FR 79058 and may be viewed at https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2019-14591.
    \3\ The notice of implementation at all high-risk chemical 
facilities was published on July 9, 2019 at 84 FR 32768 and may be 
viewed at https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2019-14591.
    \4\ Additional information about the CFATS Personnel Surety 
Program is available at https://www.cisa.gov/cfats-resources.
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    As required by the Notice of Action issued by OMB on May 23, 2019, 
CISA ``phased in gradually'' the CFATS Personnel Surety Program.\5\ 
Since July of 2019, when CISA published the implementation notice for 
the CFATS Personnel Surety Program announcing full implementation, CISA 
has selected between 50 to 100 facilities a month to update their SSP 
or ASP to implement security measures designed to ensure that certain 
individuals with or seeking access to the restricted areas or critical 
assets at those chemical facilities are screened for terrorist ties. 
CISA expects to complete implementing the CFATS Personnel Surety 
Program at every high-risk chemical facility by the second quarter of 
FY2022
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    \5\ The Notice of Action issued by OMB on May 23, 2019 about the 
CFATS Personnel Surety program may be viewed at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201806-1670-001#.
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High-Risk Chemical Facilities Have Flexibility When Implementing the 
CFATS Personnel Surety Program

    High-risk chemical facilities have flexibility to tailor their 
implementation of the CFATS Personnel Surety Program to fit their 
individual circumstances and, in this regard, to best balance who 
qualifies as an affected individual, unique security issues, costs, and 
burden. For example, a high-risk chemical facility may, in its Site 
Security Plan:
    <bullet> Restrict the number and types of persons allowed to access 
its restricted areas and critical assets, thus limiting the number of 
persons who will need to be checked for terrorist ties.
    <bullet> Define its restricted areas and critical assets, thus 
potentially limiting the number of persons who will need to be checked 
for terrorist ties.
    <bullet> Choose to escort visitors accessing restricted areas and 
critical assets in lieu of performing terrorist ties background checks 
under the CFATS Personnel Surety Program. The high-risk chemical 
facility may propose in its SSP or ASP traditional escorting solutions 
and/or innovative escorting alternatives such as video monitoring 
(which may reduce facility security costs), as appropriate, to address 
the unique security risks present at the facility.

Options Available to High-Risk Chemical Facilities To Comply With RBPS 
12(iv)

    As described in the July 2019 Implementation Notice, the CFATS 
Personnel Surety Program provides high-risk chemical facilities several 
options to comply with RBPS 12(iv). In addition to the alternatives 
expressly described in the July 2019 Implementation notice, CISA 
permits high-risk chemical facilities to propose alternative measures 
for terrorist ties identification in their SSPs or ASPs, which CISA 
will consider on a case-by-case basis in evaluating high-risk chemical 
facilities' SSPs or ASPs. In addition, a high-risk chemical facility 
may choose one option or a combination of options to comply with RBPS 
12(iv).
    Identifying affected individuals who have terrorist ties is an 
inherently governmental function and requires the use of information 
held in government-maintained databases that are unavailable to high-
risk chemical facilities. 72 FR 17688, 17709 (April 9, 2007). Thus, 
under RBPS 12(iv), CISA and high-risk chemical facilities must work 
together to satisfy the ``terrorist ties'' aspect of the Personnel 
Surety performance standard. To implement the provisions of RBPS 
12(iv), and in accordance with Title XXI of the Homeland Security Act 
of 2002, as amended,\6\ the following options will be available to 
enable high-risk chemical facilities to facilitate terrorist-ties 
vetting of affected individuals.
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    \6\ 6 U.S.C. 621 et seq.
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    Option 1. High-risk chemical facilities may submit certain 
information about affected individuals that CISA will use to vet those 
individuals for terrorist ties. Specifically, the identifying 
information about affected individuals will be compared against 
identifying information of known or suspected terrorists contained in 
the federal government's consolidated and integrated terrorist 
watchlist, the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), which is maintained 
by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Investigation 
(FBI) in the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC).\7\
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    \7\ For more information about the TSDB, see DOJ/FBI-019 
Terrorist Screening Records System, 72 FR 47073 (August 22, 2007).
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    Option 2. High-risk chemical facilities may submit information 
about affected individuals who already possess certain credentials that 
rely on security threat assessments conducted by the Department. See 72 
FR 17688, 17709 (April 9, 2007). This will enable CISA to verify the 
continuing validity of these credentials.
    Option 3. High-risk chemical facilities may comply with RBPS 12(iv) 
without submitting to CISA information about affected individuals who 
possess Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWICs), if a 
high-risk chemical facility electronically verifies and validates the 
affected individual's TWICs through the use of TWIC readers (or other 
technology that is periodically updated using the Canceled Card List).
    Option 4. High-risk chemical facilities may visually verify certain 
credentials or documents that are issued by a Federal screening program 
that periodically vets enrolled individuals against the Terrorist 
Screening Database (TSDB). CISA continues to believe that visual 
verification has significant security limitations and, accordingly, 
encourages high-risk chemical facilities choosing this option to 
identify in their Site Security Plans the means by which they plan to 
address these limitations.
    Since the implementation of the CFATS Personnel Surety Program and 
by the end of 2020; the CISA reviewed the activity of 1,666 unique 
facilities at which the program had been implemented. Of the 1,666 
facilities, 1,547 selected a single option, 102 selected two options, 
and 17 facilities selected three options. Four of the 1,666 facilities 
proposed alternative measures for terrorist ties identification in 
their SSPs or ASPs, which CISA considered and subsequently approved. 
CISA's review also found that facilities overwhelmingly selected Option 
1 as a means to comply with RBPS 12(iv). Specifically, a total of 1,635 
facilities out of the 1,666 facilities reviewed selected Option 1 as a 
method to comply with the check for terrorist ties in their SSP or ASP.

Information Collected About Affected Individuals

Option 1: Collecting Information To Conduct Direct Vetting

    If high-risk chemical facilities select Option 1 to satisfy RBPS 
12(iv) for an affected individual, the following information about the 
affected individual would be submitted to CISA:

<bullet> For U.S. Persons (U.S. citizens and nationals, as well as U.S. 
lawful permanent residents):
    [cir] Full Name;
    [cir] Date of Birth; and
    [cir] Citizenship or Gender.
<bullet> For Non-U.S. Persons:
    [cir] Full Name;
    [cir] Date of Birth;
    [cir] Citizenship; and
    [cir] Passport information and/or alien registration number.

    To reduce the likelihood of false positives in matching against 
records in the Federal Government's consolidated and integrated 
terrorist watch list, high-risk chemical facilities would also be able 
to submit the following optional

[[Page 32962]]

information about an affected individual to CISA:

<bullet> Aliases;
<bullet> Gender (for Non-U.S. Persons);
<bullet> Place of Birth; and/or
<bullet> Redress Number.\8\
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    \8\ For more information about Redress Numbers, please go to 
http://www.dhs.gov/one-stop-travelers-redress-process#1.

    High-risk chemical facilities have the option to create user 
defined fields to collect and store additional information to assist 
with the management of an affected individual's records. Any 
information collected in user defined fields will not be used to 
support vetting activities. Table 1 summarizes the biographic data that 
would be submitted to CISA under Option 1.

  Table 1--Required and Optional Data for an Affected Individual Under
                                Option 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        For a non-U.S.
 Data elements submitted to CISA   For a U.S. person        person
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Name.......................  Required.
Date of Birth...................  Required.
                                 ---------------------------------------
Gender..........................  Must provide        Optional.
                                   Citizenship or
                                   Gender.
Citizenship.....................  ..................  Required.
Passport Information and/or       N/A...............  Required.
 Alien Registration Number.
                                 ---------------------------------------
Aliases.........................  Optional.
Place of Birth..................  Optional.
Redress number..................  Optional.
User Defined Field(s)...........  Optional (Not used for vetting
                                   purposes).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

>Option 2: Collecting Information To Use Vetting Conducted Under Other 
DHS Programs

    In lieu of submitting information to CISA under Option 1 for 
vetting of terrorist ties, high-risk chemical facilities also have the 
option, where appropriate, to submit information to CISA to 
electronically verify that an affected individual is currently enrolled 
in another DHS program that vets for terrorist ties.
    To verify an affected individual's enrollment in one of these 
programs under Option 2, CISA would collect the following information 
about the affected individual:

<bullet> Full Name;
<bullet> Date of Birth; and
<bullet> Program-specific information or credential information, such 
as expiration date, unique number, or issuing entity (e.g., state for 
Commercial Driver's License [CDL] associated with an Hazardous 
Materials Endorsement [HME]).

    To reduce the likelihood of false positives, high-risk chemical 
facilities may also submit the following optional information about 
affected individuals to CISA:

<bullet> Aliases;
<bullet> Gender;
<bullet> Place of Birth; and/or
<bullet> Citizenship.

    High-risk chemical facilities have the option to create a user 
defined field to collect and store additional information to assist 
with the management of an affected individual's records. Any 
information collected in user defined fields will not be used to 
support vetting activities. Table 2 summarizes the biographic data that 
would be submitted to CISA under Option 2.

  Table 2--Required and Optional Data for an Affected Individual Under
                                Option 2
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Data Elements Submitted to CISA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Name.....................................  Required.
Date of Birth.................................  Required.
Program-specific information or credential      Required.
 information, such as expiration date, unique
 number, or issuing entity.
Aliases.......................................  Optional.
Gender........................................  Optional.
Place of Birth................................  Optional.
Citizenship...................................  Optional.
User Defined Field(s).........................  Optional (Not used for
                                                 vetting purposes).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other Information Collected

    CISA may also contact a high-risk chemical facility or its 
designees to request additional information (e.g., visa information) 
pertaining to an affected individual in order to clarify suspected data 
errors or resolve potential matches (e.g., an affected individual has a 
common name). Such requests will not imply, and should not be construed 
to indicate, that an affected individual's information has been 
confirmed as a match to a record of an individual with terrorist ties.
    CISA may also collect information provided by individuals or high-
risk chemical facilities in support of any adjudication requests under 
Subpart C of the CFATS regulation,\9\ or in support of any other 
redress requests.\10\
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    \9\ See 6 CFR 27.300-345.
    \10\ More information about access, correction, and redress 
requests under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act 
can be found in Section 7.0 of the Privacy Impact Assessment for the 
CFATS Personnel Surety Program, dated March 10, 2020, and available 
at DHS/CISA/PIA 018 Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards 
Personnel Surety Program [verbarlm] Homeland Security.
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    The information that is collected is used by CISA (1) to compare 
affected individuals information to known and suspected terrorists, or 
(2) to electronically verify and validate that the affected individual 
is enrolled in another DHS program that compares an

[[Page 32963]]

affected individual's information to known and suspected terrorists.

Proposed Revisions to the CFATS Personnel Surety Program Information 
Collection Request

    The revisions proposed in this ICR are minor revisions to the 
instrument that: (1) Reflect the passage of the Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Act of 2018, 6 U.S.C. 651-74, such as updating 
the Agency name to conform with the Agency's new designation as CISA; 
(2) increase the number of annual respondents from 72,607 respondents 
to 149,271 respondents; (3) increase the annual burden from 12,101 
hours to 24,879 hours; (4) remove the costs associated with capital/
startup costs because they are incorporated within the estimated number 
of respondents; and (4) update the average hourly wage rate of Site 
Security Officers. CISA is not proposing any revision to the scope of 
the instrument.

CISA's Methodology in Estimating the Burden for the Personnel Surety 
Program

Number of Respondents

    The current information collection estimates that 72,607 
respondents (i.e., affected individuals) would be submitted annually. 
The current estimate was calculated by adding the estimated the number 
of initial respondents and the number of annual respondents.
    The ``initial respondents'' are those affected individuals with 
existing access at a high-risk chemical facility and will be submitted 
by the facility after receiving authorization or approval of an SSP or 
ASP requiring the facility to implement measures to comply with RBPS 
12(iv). ``Annual respondents'' are the number of respondents CISA 
estimates will be submitted each year by high-risk chemical facilities 
that have completed the initial respondent's submission and are now in 
the maintenance phase (e.g., adding new affected individuals due to 
employee hires).
1. Revision to Methodology on How Respondents Are Estimated
    CISA has generally assumed that new facilities implementing the 
Personnel Surety Program for the first time as a high-risk chemical 
facility under CFATS will have a one-time requirement to submit 
information about initial respondents with existing access to the 
restricted areas or critical assets at the high-risk chemical facility. 
In the current Information Collection, this one-time cost was estimated 
as a startup cost. However, based on CISA's experience implementing the 
Personnel Surety Program, CISA has determined that the per submission 
burden associated with first time submissions (i.e., ``initial 
respondents'') does not differ from the burdens associated with the per 
submission burdens associated with subsequent submissions to maintain 
the program (i.e., ``annual respondents''). As such, starting with this 
revision, CISA will no longer consider initial respondents as start-up 
costs.\11\ Instead, as discussed below, new facilities submitting 
information about affected individuals to CISA for the first time will 
be consolidated into the number of annual respondents, based on the 
observed numbers of new facilities per year. Therefore, although this 
collection will include one respondent type (i.e., ``annual 
respondents''), the annual number of respondents for this collection 
will continue to include both historical categories of ``initial'' and 
``annual'' respondents.
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    \11\ Startup costs typically refer to additional costs that a 
respondent will incur in order to comply with the collection, such 
as the purchase of new equipment required to collect the 
information. In this case, there is no additional burden or cost 
associated with an initial submission under the PSP as compared to 
subsequent submissions. As such, it is unnecessary to separate 
initial and subsequent submissions when estimating the burdens for 
this collection.
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2. Annual Respondents From New Facilities
    In this collection, CISA will include the average number of 
facilities to be determined high risk for the first time in the number 
of annual respondents. As shown in the table below, there is, on 
average over the past four years, 134.5 facilities which are determined 
to be high-risk for the first time each year.

 Table 3--Number of First Time High-Risk Chemical Facilities by Calendar
                                  Year
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Number of
                                                            facilities
                      Calendar year                         determined
                                                           high-risk for
                                                          the first time
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2017....................................................             133
2018....................................................             117
2019....................................................             116
2020....................................................             172
                                                         ---------------
    Average.............................................           134.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Since implementing the Personnel Surety Program, CISA has received 
information about affected individuals from 1,666 facilities, totaling 
228,337 respondents, for an average of 137.1 respondents per facility.
    Therefore, CISA estimates the number of annual respondents for 
facilities determined to be high risk for the first time by multiplying 
the average number of respondents per facility (137.1) by the average 
number of new facilities per year (134.5) for an average of 18,434 
annual respondents per year.
3. Annual Respondents From Facilities at Which the CFATS Personnel 
Surety Program Has Been Implemented
    In the current Information Collection, the annual number of 
respondents at high-risk chemical facilities at which the Personnel 
Surety Program has been implemented was estimated based on the annual 
hires rates for total private industry. The annual hire rate accounts 
for the replacement of employee separations as well as new hires. CISA 
is retaining this methodology. CISA applied the annual hires rate of 
57.3% for total private industry, as estimated from the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS) \12\ to the total number of respondents that have 
already been checked for terrorist ties, resulting in 130,837 annual 
respondents.\13\
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    \12\ Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor 
Turnover--January 2021, released March 11, 2021 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/jolts_03112021.pdf. Table 14.
    \13\ 228,337 respondents x 57.3% = 130,837.
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4. Revised Estimate of the Annual Respondents
    Using the methodology above, the total number of annual respondents 
for this collection is the sum of: (a) The number of annual respondents 
from first time high risk facilities (i.e., 18,434 annual respondents), 
and (b) the number of annual respondents from new hires \14\ at high-
risk chemical facilities at which the CFATS Personnel Surety program 
has been implemented (i.e., 130,837 respondents), which totals to an 
estimated 149,271 annual respondents. Table 05 presents the number of 
annual respondents.
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    \14\ New hires include replacements for employee turnover, as 
well as new hires.

                  Table 4--Annual Number of Respondents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             Number of
                   Type of submission                       respondents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Hires...............................................         130,837
First Time High Risk Facilities.........................          18,434
                                                         ---------------
    Total...............................................         149,271
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 32964]]

Estimated Time per Respondent

    In the current information collection, the estimated time per 
respondent is 10 minutes (0.1667 hours) per affected individual. This 
conservative estimate includes the time to edit or remove a record if a 
high-risk chemical facility opts to subsequently notify the CISA that 
an affected individual no longer has access. The current estimate also 
assumes that each record includes both optional and required data 
elements. Thus, a revision to modify which data fields are required 
versus optional does not increase the estimated time per response. 
Thus, CISA is choosing to retain an estimate of 10 minutes (0.1667 
hours) per affected individual.

Annual Burden Hours

    In the current information collection, the estimated annual burden 
is 12,101 hours. To estimate the annual burden hours for this 
collection, CISA multiplied the number of annual respondents by the 
estimated time burden of 0.1667 hours (10 minutes), for an estimated 
annual burden of 24,879 hours (i.e., 0.1667 hours multiplied by 149,271 
annual respondents).

Total Capital/Startup Burden Cost

    CISA provides access to the CFATS Personnel Surety Program 
application free of charge and assumes that each high-risk chemical 
facility already has access to the internet for basic business needs. 
As described earlier in this notice, CISA expects that all high-risk 
chemical facilities will have implemented the CFATS Personnel Surety 
Program prior to the end of CY 2021.
    In the current collection, CISA assumed that new facilities 
implementing the Personnel Surety program for the first time as a high-
risk chemical facility under CFATS will have a one-time requirement to 
submit information about initial respondents with existing access to 
the restricted areas or critical assets at the high-risk chemical 
facility. While this was considered a start-up cost in previous 
collections, for this ICR, CISA no longer considers new facilities 
submitting as a start-up cost, as the cost for an initial respondent 
does not differ from the cost of an annual respondent.

Consideration of Other Capital Costs

    This information collection request maintains the existing 
assumptions found in the current information collection request with 
regard to activities listed in 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(1). Specifically, that 5 
CFR 1320.3(b)(1) and 5 CFR 1320.8 require CISA to estimate the total 
time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, 
maintain, retain, disclose, or provide information to or for a Federal 
agency. Therefore, many costs (e.g., physical modification of the 
facility layout) a high-risk chemical facility may choose to incur to 
develop or implement its SSP or ASP should not be accounted for when 
estimating the capital costs associated with this information 
collection.
    Furthermore, CISA maintains the same assumptions found in the 
current information collection request with regards to estimating 
certain high-risk chemical facility capital costs, such as: (1) Capital 
costs for computer, telecommunications equipment, software, and storage 
to manage the data collection, submissions, and tracking; (2) capital 
and ongoing costs for designing, deploying, and operating information 
technology (IT) systems necessary to maintain the data collection, 
submissions, and tracking; (3) cost of training high-risk chemical 
facility personnel to maintain the data collection, submissions, and 
tracking; and (4) site security officer time to manage the data 
collection, submissions, and tracking. CISA continues to exclude these 
costs in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.3(b)(2), which directs Federal 
agencies to not count the costs associated with the time, effort, and 
financial resources incurred in the normal course of their activities 
(e.g., in compiling and maintaining business records) if the reporting, 
recordkeeping, or disclosure activities are usual and customary.
    CISA continues to exclude these usual and customary costs because 
the time, effort, and financial resources are costs that high-risk 
chemical facilities incur to conduct background checks for identity, 
criminal history, and legal authorization to work under 6 CFR 
27.230(a)(12)(i)-(iii), and also under various other Federal, State, or 
local laws or regulations.

Total Recordkeeping Burden

    The current information collection does not have any recordkeeping 
costs because the recordkeeping costs, if any, to create, keep, or 
retain records pertaining to background checks as part of a high-risk 
chemical facility's SSP or ASP, are properly estimated in the 
recordkeeping estimates associated with the SSP Instrument under 
Information Collection 1670-0007. CISA retains this assumption and 
estimate of no recordkeeping costs.

Total Annual Burden Cost

    CISA assumes that Site Security Officers (SSOs) are responsible for 
submitting about affected individuals. For the purpose of this notice, 
CISA maintains this assumption.
    To estimate the total annual burden, CISA multiplied the annual 
burden of 24,879 hours by the average hourly wage rate of Site Security 
Officers of $88.48 \15\ per hour. Therefore, the total annual burden 
cost for the CFATS Personnel Surety Program is $2,201,152 (i.e., 24,879 
hours multiplied by $88.48 per hour). For the three-year period for 
which this collection will be approved, the total cost burden would be 
$6,603,456 (i.e., $2,201,152 annual cost multiplied by 3 years).
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    \15\ The above Average Hourly Wage Rate is the May 2020 Bureau 
of Labor Statistics average wage for ``Management Occupations (Major 
Group (11-0000))'' of $60.81 times the wage rate benefit multiplier 
of 1.4596 (to account for fringe benefits) equaling $88.48. The 
benefits multiplier is estimated by dividing total compensation of 
$38.60 by salaries and wages of $26.53, based on Employer Cost for 
Employee Compensation, December 2020, released March 18, 2021 
(https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf).
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    OMB is particularly interested in comments that:
    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 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: Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Agency.
    Title: Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Personnel 
Surety Program.
    OMB Number: 1670-0029.
    Instrument: CFATS Personnel Surety Program.
    Frequency: ``Other.''
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
    Number of Respondents: 149,271 respondents.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 0.1667 hours (10 minutes).

[[Page 32965]]

    Total Burden Hours: 24,879 annual burden hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Recordkeeping Burden: $0.
    Total Burden Cost: $2,201,152.

Samuel Vazquez,
Acting Chief Information Officer, Department of Homeland Security, 
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
[FR Doc. 2021-13110 Filed 6-22-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-9P-P


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