Intent To Request Approval From OMB of One New Public Collection of Information: Partnership Survey for Surface Transportation Security Grants Program, 19099-19100 [E9-9513]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
• Transportation Security Administration

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 79 (Monday, April 27, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19099-19100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9513]


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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.

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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