[Federal Register: April 27, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 79)]
[Notices]
[Page 19099-19100]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27ap09-69]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Transportation Security Administration
Intent To Request Approval From OMB of One New Public Collection
of Information: Partnership Survey for Surface Transportation Security
Grants Program
AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration, DHS.
ACTION: 60-day notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Transportation
Security Administration (TSA), invites public comment on an Information
Collection Request (ICR) regarding the Transit Security Grant Program
(TSGP) that TSA will submit to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for approval in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA). The information collection involves surveying approximately 400
representatives of eligible transit agencies and other organizations
that partner with TSA through Regional Transit Security Working Groups
(RTSWGs) in order to implement the TSGP. The survey will focus on the
goals and practices of this partnership in order to enhance the RTSWG's
effectiveness and contribute to its and the TSGP's success.
DATES: Send your comments by June 26, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed or delivered to Ginger LeMay, PRA
Officer, Office of Information Technology, TSA-11, 601 South 12th
Street, Arlington, VA 20598-6011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ginger LeMay, PRA Officer, Office of
Information Technology; telephone: (571) 227-3616; e-mail:
ginger.lemay@dhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
In accordance with the PRA of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), an
agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB
control number. OMB provides a valid control number for display on an
information collection only when it has reviewed and approved it.
Therefore, in preparation for OMB review of the following information
collection, TSA is soliciting comments on the following:
(1) Whether the proposed information requirement is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden;
(3) Enhancing the quality, utility, and clarity of the information
to be collected; and
(4) Minimizing the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including using appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology.
Information Collection Requirement
Background
TSA has the primary Federal responsibility for security in all
modes of transportation based primarily upon the authorities provided
to it in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) (Pub. L.
107-71, November 19, 2001), the authorities provided to the DHS
Secretary in the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission
Act of 2007 (9/11 Act) (Pub. L. 110-53, August 3, 2007), and
delegations to TSA from the DHS Secretary.
As part of this responsibility, TSA has the programmatic lead
within DHS for several transportation security grant programs.
Specifically, TSA provides transit system subject matter expertise
within DHS and determines the primary security architecture for the
TSGP program. TSA's subject matter experts have the lead in crafting
all selection criteria associated with the grant application review
process.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has the lead for
designing and operating the administrative mechanisms needed to manage
DHS's core grant programs, including the TSGP. Specifically, FEMA is
responsible for ensuring compliance with all relevant Federal grant
management requirements and delivering the appropriate grant management
tools, financial controls, audits, and program management discipline
needed to support the TSGP.
TSA and FEMA serve as ex officio members of the RTSWGs and meet
with each of the RTSWGs throughout the application process to
collaboratively develop project concepts, determine how projects will
be selected for funding, and develop detailed cost estimates and
investment justifications. TSA, FEMA, and their TSGP security partners
(e.g., transit agencies and local law enforcement) work closely at the
RTSWGs to establish cooperative agreements in which projects to be
funded with grant dollars are selected and refined based on regional
risk and security priorities.
TSA employs this collaborative partnership process to assist in
ensuring that DHS grant dollars are spent effectively. This includes
maximizing the risk reduction to the transit system, while also
maintaining a collaborative process. An important part of the
collaborative process is how closely a partnership comes to achieving
its mission, vision, and goals.
[[Page 19100]]
Purpose
The purpose of this information collection is for TSA to more fully
understand the unique features that characterize TSGP security
partnerships in order to begin to improve this and other grant
programs. Specifically, one of TSA's priorities for conducting this
survey is to systematically understand the goals of all of its security
partners and whether or not those goals are achieved through the
partnership. Discovering any disconnects will better enable TSA to
accomplish its mission and ultimately increase the effectiveness of the
TSGP.
Past studies on partnerships have not yielded recommendations that
will benefit the unique challenges TSA faces with the TSGP through the
RTSWGs. Partnerships in the security grant program context,
specifically security preparedness partnerships, have not been
extensively studied by academia or the Federal government. Because of
the vast amounts of uncertainty that cloud the ``effectiveness'' and
``success'' measurements of security partnerships, they often face
unique hurdles and thus require alternative solutions to overcome them.
Therefore, this information collection is essential in order to
better educate TSA on strategies that enhance the effectiveness of its
security partnerships with the transit community through the RTSWGs.
Through this effort, TSA and its security partners will improve the
collaborative partnership process and, therefore, the effectiveness of
the TSGP.
Description of Data Collection
The respondents to this proposed information collection are the
approximately 400 representatives of eligible transit agencies, local
law enforcement, and State administrative agencies that partner with
TSA through RTSWGs in order to implement the TSGP. This information
collection will occur over approximately nine weeks to elicit maximum
response rates.
TSA will collect the information through a Web-based survey. All
respondents will be e-mailed a Web site link and a unique password in
order to take the survey. The same set of questions will be asked of
all respondents. The Web-based survey will take approximately 45
minutes to complete. The anticipated one-time reporting burden for the
survey is 300 annual hours (e.g., 400 respondents multiplied by 45
minutes = 18000 minutes divided by 60 (60 minutes per hour) equals 300
hours).
The information collection will be designed such that statistically
significant results will emerge; these results can then, in turn,
inform the structure and operation of the TSGP, and, potentially, other
security partnerships.
The survey will consist of five main sections that collect opinions
about:
1. Part I: Regional and Entity Threat: How partners view the threat
of terrorism to their system and region as compared to the rest of the
nation.
2. Part II: Membership and Process of the RTSWG: How much do
partners prioritize security and how do they view the priorities of
other partners? What does each of the partners bring to the table that
benefits the partnership? How satisfied are partners with the process
and structure of the RTSWG?
3. Part III: Goals and Outcomes: What are the goals that each
partner has in participating in the RTSWG? What are the perceived
outputs of the partnership? What are the key incentives that influence
the success of the partnership?
4. Part IV: Other Feedback: What is working well, and/or what could
be improved, in regard to the RTSWGs as they pertain to the TSGP?
5. Part V: Demographics: Is your organization a member of a RTSWG?
Which Tier I RTSWG do you participate in? At what level do you
represent your organization (e.g., security staff, executive)? Which of
the following best characterizes your organization: Federal, State,
transit agency, and/or law enforcement?
There are no other anticipated recordkeeping and reporting burdens
associated with this information collection.
Use of Results
TSA will use these survey results to improve TSGP partnership
strategies, which will, in turn, improve this and other grant programs.
Demographic information will allow recommendations to be made for the
entire program, looking nationally, and for each of the eight RTSWGs,
looking regionally. Because each RTSWG operates with slight
differences, the recommendations that result from the data collection
will enable processes in each region to be refined so that the goals of
each partner are more adequately addressed by the results of the
partnership, as appropriate. To protect anonymity, demographic subgroup
results will only be reported if there are at least 10 individuals
responding from that subgroup. Demographic subgroups may be geographic
(by region) or organizational (type of organization, e.g., Federal,
State, and/or transit agency).
The outcome of this information collection and analysis of the
survey results will provide several findings where improvements may be
made for each region. Areas that are actionable will then be presented
generically to the regions through the RTSWGs and anticipated changes
to address the issues discussed.
Issued in Arlington, Virginia, on April 22, 2009.
Ginger LeMay,
Paperwork Reduction Act Officer, Office of Information Technology.
[FR Doc. E9-9513 Filed 4-24-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-05-P