Document ID: EPA-HQ-OARM-2008-0828-0003
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2009-02-19T05:00Z

1.  IDENTIFICATION OF THE INFORMATION COLLECTION

(a) Title of the Information Collection

This information collection request is for the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) requirement entitled “Background Checks for Contractor
Employees (Renewal),” EPA ICR Number 2159.03 and OMB Control Number
2030-0043.  The Agency requires background checks for specified
contractor employees working in sensitive locations or sensitive
projects and not otherwise covered by a background check in accordance
with Homeland Security Presidential Directive -12. 

(b) Short Characterization 

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 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 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.

 

2.  NEED FOR AND USE OF THE COLLECTION 

(a) Need/authority for 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 the threat to the public health, welfare
and the environment. 

(b) Uses/users of the Data

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.

3.  NONDUPLICATION, CONSULTATION, AND OTHER COLLECTION CRITERIA

(a) Nonduplication

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 from any other source.

(b) Public Notice Required Prior to ICR submission to the Office of
Management and Budget.

The information collection request was initially published as a Notice
in the Federal Register on June 10, 2005 and no comments were received. 
This information collection request has been published for renewal as a
Notice in the Federal Register on November 13, 2008 and no comments were
received.

(c) Consultations

To determine contractor burden associated with the information
collection identified in this request, the following vendors were
contacted:

_Representative__		               Firm___________	          ____Phone___

Micaell Diazgranados            WRS Infrastructure& Env. 		(813)
684-4400

Tom Campbell  		Project Resources, Inc.		(858) 505-1000

Michael Gibbons  		Techtratech Inc.                                 
(805)  515-8501

Mark Ruck			Environmental Restoration		(636)  227-7477

Each individual consulted indicated that he/she understood the need for
the information collection and did not find the collection burdensome. 
Each individual consulted stated that their organization now performs
Background Checks of new hires as standard practice.  Estimated time to
complete the information collection is described in section 6. 
Estimating the Burden and Cost of the Collection.”  

(d) Effects of Less Frequent Collection

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. 

(e) General Guidelines

The information contained in this ICR is in accordance with the Office
of Management and Budget’s general guidelines for Federal data
collection, except that small entities have to follow the same
collection procedures as other respondents. 

(f) Confidentiality

The EPA contractor is responsible for collecting and maintaining
information under this collection of information; therefore, each
contractor will have his own procedures for ensuring confidentiality.

(g) Sensitive Questions

Information requested is commonly collected as a normal business
practice.  The contractor will collect and maintain employee
information.  The EPA will not collect contractor employee information
nor maintain it.  The Agency is responsible for receiving the
suitability notification from contractors.

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
Director, Superfund/RCRA Regional Procurement Operations Division
(SRRPOD).  The information submitted to SRRPOD is maintained and
protected in accordance with Privacy Act requirements.

4.  THE RESPONDENTS AND THE INFORMATION RECEIVED   

(a) Respondents/North American Industry Classification System Codes

Information is collected for employees of the contractor and
subcontractor who perform 

work in sensitive sites or sensitive projects.  All contractor employees
who will perform on response action are subject to a background check
and must meet the Government-established suitability criteria prior to
contract performance.  Typically, these contractor respondents fall into
the following North American Industry Classification System code: 562910
Remediation Services. Other contractors may be subject to background
check requirements.

(b) Information Requested

The contractor’s 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. 

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. 

5.  THE INFORMATION COLLECTED:  AGENCY ACTIVITIES, COLLECTION
METHODOLOGY, AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

(a) Agency Activities  

EPA contracting officers are responsible for ensuring that they have
received notification from the contractor that all of its employees
working under the emergency response contract at an incident have
undergone a background check and have met the Government-established
suitability criteria.

(b) Collection Methodology and Management  

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 at 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 by the contracting
officer.  Contracting officers, on a case-by-case basis, 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 has 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 Statement of Work, contractors must notify the EPA
contracting officer.  Contractors must maintain the records of their
background checks and application of the Agency’s suitability
criteria.  

(c) Small Entity Flexibility

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; therefore, small businesses are
not expected to experience financial difficulties in fulfilling these
requirements.  There are numerous commercial sources that perform
background checks.

(d) Collection Schedule

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.

6.  ESTIMATING THE BURDEN AND COST OF THE COLLECTION

(a) Estimation of Respondent Burden

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.  

(b) Estimation of Respondent Costs

(i) Estimating Labor Costs

Respondent Cost Estimate

Respondent Cost Estimate

	Burden	 Loaded 

Step	Collection Activity  	     	  Labor Cat.		   Hours__       Rate__	 
  Cost_

   1.  Time to fill out information	  Employees		.15   hour       $
67.65	$   10.15

   2.  Cost to perform Background							$   35.00

        Check (Third party/Subcontractor)

   3.  Review/apply	     	   	 Manager		.15   hour       $116.55	$  
17.48

        suitability criteria

   4.  Submit notification 		 Manager		.10 hour         $116.55	$  
11.66

   5.  Maintain files		       	 Admin. Support 	.15 hour         $ 
47.47	$     7.12

.55 hours		$   81.41

Step 1 of the information collection is completed by an employee at any
level working on-site, an on average respondents stated this process
normally takes the employee about 15 minutes to complete.  Step 2 is a
plug figure based upon market research and input from the vendors
surveyed.  This represents the average cost to process an applicant. 
Most vendors stated this process was normally contracted out to a third
party.  Step 3 and 4 of the collection activity is performed by a human
resource type manager and/or a security manager responsible for
personnel management.  Most vendors stated this process takes less of
their time now since the information provided to them from the third
party is more detailed.  Administrative support personnel are
responsible for completing step 5, normally in coordination with the
third party.  Several vendors stated that the subcontractor that
performed the background checks, normally also housed electronic records
of the background checks for the vendor.  However the Administrative
support is still responsible for maintaining hard copies of the files.

The cost associated with this effort was estimated using a loaded hourly
rate based upon the National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in
the United States, 2007 published by the U.S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics in April of 2007, and represents the most
current survey data available.  

Since the labor rates used in this estimate are from 2007, an escalation
factor of 4% (based upon Defense Contract Audit Agency) 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 (*see below) to
reflect industries’ over head, fringe benefits, and general and
administrative costs for each year (2009 thru 2011) that the ICR will be
in effect.  These loaded labor cost for 2005 thru 2007 are 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:

Employees:

2007 = $20.46

2008 = ($20.46 x 1.04) $21.28

2009 = ($21.28 x 1.04) $22.13 x 2.95 = $ 65.28

2010 = ($22.13 x 1.04) $23.02 x 2.95 = $ 67.09

2011 = ($23.94 x 1.04) $23.94 x 2.95 = $ 70.62

   $202.96/3 = $67.65

Administrative Manager:

2007 = $35.15

2008 = ($35.15 x 1.04) $36.56

2009 = ($36.56 x 1.04) $38.02 x 2.95 = $ 112.16

2010 = ($38.02 x 1.04) $39.54 x 2.95 = $ 116.45

2011 = ($39.54 x 1.04) $41.03 x 2.95 = $ 121.04

    $ 349.65/3 = $116.55

Administrative Support:

2007 = $14.29

2008 = ($14.29 x 1.04) $14.86

2009 = ($14.86 x 1.04) $15.45 x 2.95 = $ 45.58

2010 = ($15.45 x 1.04) $16.09 x 2.95 = $ 47.47

2011 = ($16.09 x 1.04) $16.73 x 2.95 = $ 49.35

   $142.40/3 = $47.47

* 2.95 is a factor recommended by EPA cost analyst as representative of
labor related burdens experienced by EPA contractors.

(ii)  Capital/ Start-up Costs

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.

(iii)  Operating and Maintenance Costs

Operating and maintenance costs, which include such items as file
storage, photocopying, and postage, will be nominal.

(c) Estimating Agency Burden and Cost

Agency burden for responses to background check and application of
Government suitability criteria.

Agency Burden Cost Estimate

   Labor			    Loaded

Step	Collection Activity		Category        Burden Hours	   _Rate_	Cost

   1.  Ensure Compliance		GS-13		.25 hour	   $75.55	$18.89

   2.  Document Contractors’		GS-13		.25 hour	   $75.55	$18.89

          Notifications					.50 hour	   		$37.78

* EPA Waiver				GS-13		.25 hour	   $75.55	$18.89

* Requests for waivers are estimated at 25% of contractor employees.

2009 = 		     33.84 x 2.16** = $73.09

2010 = ($33.84 x 3.0%) $34.86 x 2.16     = $75.98

2011 = ($34.86 x 3.0%) $35.91 x 2.16     = $77.57

         $226.64/3 = $75.55

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 at the GS-13 level due to recent EPA turnover
rates within the 1102 series.  The GS-13 per hour salary for 2009 is
$33.84.  This per hour wage was escalated by an estimated factor of 3.0%
based upon historical cost of living increases for federal workers. 
These wage rates were then multiplied by a factor of **2.16 to reflect
Federal employee benefits and then divided by three for an annualized
loaded rate of $75.55, for the three years the ICR is in effect (see
above).  

**2.16 is a factor recommended by EPA cost analyst as representative of
employee related benefits.

(d) Estimating the Respondent Universe and Total Burden 

All EPA contractor personnel performing on a response site must provide
the required background information unless this requirement is waived by
the contracting officer.  The number of contractor employees expected to
submit the requested information for background checks for the life of
this ICR (3 years) is 3,000.  This number was derived by estimating the
number of currently performing contract employees under emergency
response contracts.  The Agency estimated this number of employees by
reviewing current contract databases and information received from the
regions.  A 10% factor was then applied to cover all other contractor
personnel who may work at sensitive sites or sensitive projects.

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
Management’s active contract list there are currently about 78
contracts that respond 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.  Many START, ERRS, ROC, RAC, REPA, and ESAT
contracts require employees to be prepared to report to work locations. 
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 not limited to, maintenance
of anti-terrorism equipment warehouses, water systems, environmental
information, and private laboratories working on genetically modified
herbicides and pathogens, and law enforcement activities.

Finally, there are situations in which contracting officers may waive
this background check requirement, making it difficult to precisely
determine the number of respondents.  For these reasons, this initial
request represents our best estimate given current information.  Future
estimates will be more accurate and based on historical data monitored
through the Agency’s contractual systems on the use of the subject
clause. 

(e) Bottom Line Burden Hours and Costs

(i) Respondent Tally

Total annual respondent hours for this collection request are 1,000
hours.  This is derived by taking the total number of background checks,
3,000, divided by 3 (the number of years the ICR is effective for a
total of 1,000 occurrences per year.  Then the number of annual
occurrences, 1,000, is multiplied by the respondent burden effort of ,
.55, approximately a half an-hour to collect information to arrive at
the total of 550 hours per year.

Total annual respondent cost for this collection request is
approximately $81,410.  This is calculated by multiplying the number of
annual occurrences, 1,000 by the respondent cost of one collection,
$81.41.

(ii) The Agency Tally

The total annual Agency burden for this collection request is still
estimated at 500 hours.  This is calculated by multiplying the estimated
burden hours, .50, by the number of annual occurrences, 1,000 to arrive
at 500 hours.  Additionally, the estimated number of waivers, 250 (see
below), is multiplied by the estimated time it takes to perform a
waiver, .25, to arrive at 62.5 hours per year.  The total Agency burden
is estimated by adding the contracting officer burden, 500 hours, to the
estimated waiver burden, 62.5, to arrive at 562.5 hours per year.

The total annual Agency cost for this collection request is estimated at
$42,503 (roundup).  This is calculated by adding the cost of the
contracting officer effort, $37,780 (see below), plus the estimated cost
of the waiver, $4,722.50 (see below), to arrive at a total Agency burden
of $42,502.50.

(a) Contracting Officer Effort

The cost of the contracting officer effort is determined by multiplying
the estimated burden hours, .50, by the estimated hourly rate of $75.55,
for a total of $37.78 for one collection request by the contracting
officer.  The total cost of the contracting officer effort is calculated
by multiplying the number of occurrences, 1,000, by the cost for one
occurrence, $37.78, to arrive at a total estimated cost of $37,780.

(b) Estimated Cost of the Waiver Determination

Additionally, it is estimated that 25% of contractor employees will have
adverse information reported and the contractor will request a waiver. 
The number of waiver determinations is calculated by multiplying 25% by
the number of annual occurrences, 1,000 to arrive at an estimated 250
(25% x 1,000) waiver determinations.  Then the cost of the waiver
determinations is estimated by multiplying the hourly rate of $75.55, at
the GS-13 rate, by the .25 hours estimated to make the determination,
for a cost of $18.89 per occurrence.  The total cost of the waiver
determination effort is calculated by multiplying the number of
occurrences, 250, by the cost for one waiver determination, $18.89, to
arrive at a total of $4,722.50.

(f) Burden Statement

The annual public reporting and record keeping burden for this
collection of information is estimated to average, .50, a half an-hour
per response.  Burden means the total time, effort, or financial
resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose
or provide information to or for a Federal agency.  This includes the
time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and
utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting,
validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining
information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the
existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and
requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of
information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of
information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information. An
agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently
valid OMB control number.  The OMB control numbers for EPA’s
regulations are listed in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR chapter 15.

To comment on the Agency’s need for this information, the accuracy of
the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing
respondent burden, including the use of automated collection techniques,
EPA has established a public docket for this ICR under Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OARM-2008-0828, which is available for public viewing at the
Office of Environmental Information Docket in the EPA Docket Center
(EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington,
DC.  The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays.  The
telephone number for the Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the
telephone number for the Office of Environmental Information Docket is
(202) 566-1752.  An electronic version of the public docket is available
through EPA Dockets (EDOCKET) at http://www.epa.gov/edocket.  Use
EDOCKET to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of
the contents of the public docket, and to access those documents in the
public docket that are available electronically.  Once in the system,
select “search,” then key in the docket ID number identified above. 
Also, you can send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Office for EPA.  Please include
the EPA Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OARM-2008-0828 and OMB control number:
2030-0043 in any correspondence. 

                                                                        
                                                      Attachment A

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