OMB Approves Rail Security ICR Revision

Yesterday, the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved an ‘Extension without change’ for the Transportation Security Administration’s information collection request (ICR) for “Rail Transportation Security” (this ICR does not include the new cybersecurity reporting requirements). While OIRA calls this an extension without change, they report that there is a minor decrease in the number of responses and hour burden estimates. TSA does not address this minor change in their supporting documentation.

TSA does report one minor process change in this ICR. On page 4 of the Supporting Document, TSA reports that they are now providing “an additional electronic option for reporting significant security concern information” to supplement the telephonic reporting of incidents. They do not provide any specific information on that process other than noting that: “TSA does not require that a specific form be used for submitting information electronically as long as the information provided is consistent with the requirements of the information collection.” TSA reports that: “. In general, electronic reports were found to be more detailed when compared to telephonic reporting; improved ease of use and accuracy of reported data; and reduced the need for subsequent calls to address transcription errors and collect additional information, leading to expedited analysis of security concerns.”