FEMA Publishes Information Collection Request Notice in Federal Register

The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) on Monday published in the Federal Register a new 30-day Information Collection Request (ICR) notice supporting the FEMA Port Security Grant Program (PSGP). The original 60-day notice for this ICR was published in the Federal Register on November 17, 2009. FEMA has submitted this information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance.

FEMA's PSGP was created to create a collaborative, risk-based counter-terrorism initiative by protecting critical port infrastructure from terrorist acts, especially those where explosives or non-conventional threats could cause a major disruption to U.S. commerce. The PSGP provides grant funding to U.S. port areas to assist in U.S. port protection, by enhancing maritime domain awareness and enhancing the ability to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from a variety of potential terrorist attacks. FEMA “uses the [ICR] to evaluate applicants' familiarity with the national preparedness architecture and identify how elements of this architecture have been incorporated into regional/state/local planning, operations, and investments.”

Monday's request varies slightly from the original November ICR. FEMA Form 089-21, Ferry Investment Justification, has been removed. Additionally, FEMA added “Business or other for-profit” to the Affected Public portion of the request, which resulted in an increase in the Estimated Number of Respondents and in the Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours.

The new comment period ends April 28, 2010. Public comments should be addressed to the Desk Officer for the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and sent via email to oira.submission@omb.eop.gov or faxed to (202) 395-5806.