First Responders Community of Practice ICR Renewal – 60-day Notice

Today the DHS Science and Technology Directorate published a 60-day information collection request (ICR) notice in the Federal Register (78 FR 53464) for the renewal of their ICR (1640-0016) supporting their First Responders Community of Practice web site. This limited access web site allows for the exchange of information between registered members of the first responder community.

The previous renewal of this ICR only provided a one-year extension of the ICR. In the previous approval OMB noted that DHS should provide the following information in the next submission to justify the continued collection of the required information:

• How the First Responders Community of Practice is being used.

• Has the intended audience been reached?

• An analysis by DHS of the practical utility of the collection.

• An analysis by DHS of other similar platforms currently in use by first responders.

The requested information has not been provided in this ICR submission. I suspect that, unless the requested information is added to the 30-day submission notice that this ICR will be rejected by OMB. It would have been nice to have that information available for the 60-day public comment period.

NOTE: This submission continues the current practice of not including a cost burden estimate. The previously approved ICR showed an estimated annual cost burden of $50,000 for 2,000 (registration) responses at a half-hour each. This comes out to $50/hour for the value of a first responder’s time. I know that they wish they got paid that much.