Notice2024-02588
Agency Information Collection Activities: DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool, Collection Instrument DHS Form 3095, OMB Control No. 1601-0024
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 8, 2024
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security Department
Abstract
The Department of Homeland Security will submit the following Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 27 (Thursday, February 8, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 27 (Thursday, February 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8692-8693]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02588]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
[Docket Number DHS-2024-0004]
Agency Information Collection Activities: DHS Civil Rights
Evaluation Tool, Collection Instrument DHS Form 3095, OMB Control No.
1601-0024
AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for comments; revision request.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security will submit the following
Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until April 8,
2024. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.1.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number Docket
#DHS-2024-0004, at:
[cir] Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Please follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and docket number Docket #DHS-2024-0004. All comments received will be
posted without change to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any
personal information provided.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Recipients of Federal financial assistance
from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are required to meet
certain legal requirements relating to nondiscrimination and
nondiscriminatory use of Federal funds. Those requirements include
ensuring that entities receiving Federal financial assistance from the
DHS do not deny benefits or services, or otherwise discriminate on the
basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, or
religion, in accordance with the following authorities:
<bullet> Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) Public
Law 88-352, 42 U.S.C. 2000d-1 et seq., and the Department's
implementing regulation, 6 CFR part 21 and 44 CFR part 7, which
prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, color, or national
origin by recipients of Federal financial assistance. Title VI, through
its prohibition against discrimination on the basis of national origin,
requires recipients to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful
access to persons who are limited English proficient (LEP). See
Guidance to Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI
Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited
English Proficient Persons, 76 FR. 21755-21768 (April 18, 2011).
<bullet> Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section
504), Public Law 93-112, as amended by Public Law 93-516, 29 U.S.C.
794, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by
recipients of Federal financial assistance.
<bullet> Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (title IX),
20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq., and the Department's implementing regulations,
6 CFR part 17, and 44 CFR part 19, which prohibits discrimination on
the basis of sex in education program and activities received Federal
financial assistance.
<bullet> Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Public Law 94-135, 42
U.S.C. 6101 et seq., and the Department implementing regulation at 44
CFR part 7, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age by
recipients of Federal financial assistance.
<bullet> U.S. Department of Homeland Security regulation 6 CFR part
19, which prohibits organizations that receive financial assistance
from DHS for a social service program from discriminating against
beneficiaries on the basis of religion or religious belief, a refusal
to hold a religious belief, or a refusal to attend or participate in a
religious practice.
The aforementioned civil rights authorities also prohibit
retaliatory acts against individuals for participating or opposing
discrimination in a complaint, investigation, or other proceeding
related to prohibited discrimination.
DHS has an obligation to enforce nondiscrimination requirements to
ensure that its federally assisted programs and activities are
administered in a nondiscriminatory manner. In order to carry out its
enforcement responsibilities, DHS must obtain a signed assurance of
compliance and collect and review information from recipients to
ascertain their compliance with applicable requirements. DHS
implementing regulations and the Department of Justice regulation
Coordination of Non-discrimination in Federally Assisted Program, 28
CFR part 42, provide for the collection of data and information from
recipients (see 28 CFR 42.406).
DHS uses DHS Form 3095: DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool as the
primary tool to implement this information collection. DHS is revising
the collection, changing Section 1 of the form on Instructions to
extend the deadline for initial submissions from 30 days of receipt of
the Notice of Award to 60 days; to update the method of submission from
email to an online portal, and to make other minor clarifying
revisions. DHS is also making minor changes to Section 2 of the form on
Organization Information to remove the fields for reporting Grant
Agreement Number and Federal Award Identification Number; DHS now
obtains that information from Department data sources. In addition, DHS
is making minor changes to Section 5 of the form on Additional
Information to streamline communication with recipients by providing a
single, centralized point of contact for questions and technical
assistance. Further, a minor change to Section 2 of the form on
Organization Information to revise the field for reporting the
organization's DUNS Number to Unique Entity ID. In 2022, the Federal
Government stopped using DUNS Number to uniquely identify organizations
and transitioned to using Unique Entity ID as the official identifier
for entities doing business with the U.S. Government.
DHS uses the form to collect civil rights related information from
all recipients of federal financial assistance from the Department.
Recipients are non-Federal entities that receive Federal financial
assistance in the form of a grant, cooperative agreement, or other type
of financial assistance directly from the Department and not through
another recipient or ``pass-through'' entity. This information
collection does not apply to subrecipients, Federal contractors (unless
the contract includes the provision of financial assistance), nor the
ultimate beneficiaries of services, financial aid, or other benefits
from the Department.
Recipients are required to provide the information 60 days from
receipt of Notice of Award. Recipient of multiple
[[Page 8693]]
awards of DHS financial assistance only submit one completed form for
their organization, not per award. Recipient are required to complete
the form once every two years if they have an active award, not every
time a grant is awarded. Entities whose award does not run a full two
years are required to provide the information again if they receive a
subsequent award more than two (2) years after the prior award. In
responding to Section 4: Required Information, which contains the bulk
of the information collection, if the recipient's responses have not
changed in the two-year period since their initial submission, the
recipient does not need to resubmit the information. Instead, the
recipient will indicate ``no change'' for each applicable item.
The purpose of the information collection is to advise recipients
of their civil rights obligations and collect pertinent civil rights
information to ascertain if the recipient has in place adequate
policies and procedures to achieve compliance, and to determine what,
if any, further action may be needed (technical assistance, training,
compliance review, etc.) to ensure the recipient is able to meet its
civil rights requirements and will carry out its programs and
activities in a nondiscriminatory manner.
Over the past three years, DHS has used the information collected
via the DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool to identify gaps and
deficiencies in recipient programs and directly help recipients address
these gaps and deficiencies by providing technical assistance on
developing or improving policies and procedures to prevent
discrimination and ensure accessibility.
DHS is transitioning the submission process from an email-based
system to a new online portal platform. The portal will streamline and
improve the submission process by allowing recipients to view the
requirements contained in the form, report civil rights complaint and
lawsuit data in a standardized chart, upload responsive documents and
supporting information, and access technical assistance templates and
other resources all in one space. DHS anticipates that records or files
that will be used to respond to the information collection are already
maintained in electronic format by the recipient, so providing the
information electronically further minimizes administrative burden.
When fully deployed, recipients will also be able to view and
update contact information, the status of their submission with DHS,
and submission due dates. If the recipient is unable to submit their
information electronically, alternative arrangements will be made to
submit responses in hard copy.
The information collection will impact some small entities (e.g.,
non-profit service providers, local fire departments, etc.); however,
recipients will only be required to provide this information once every
two years, not every time a grant is awarded. Additionally, in
responding to Section 4: Required Information, if the recipient's
responses have not changed in the two-year period since their initial
submission, the recipient does not need to resubmit the information.
This will dramatically reduce the administrative burden on recipients
after the initial submission. Additionally, DHS will further minimize
burden on recipients by making available sample policies, procedures,
and templates to assist recipients in completing Section 4 of the Form,
and providing technical assistance directly to the recipient as needed.
In accordance with the authorities identified above, the Department
is required to obtain a signed assurance of compliance from recipients
and to ensure that its federally assisted programs and activities are
administered in a nondiscriminatory manner. If the information
collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, the
Department will not be able to fulfill its obligations to ascertain
recipient compliance and enforce nondiscrimination in recipient
programs. This could lead to the award of Federal financial assistance
to recipients that are not complying with Federal civil rights law, and
the perpetuation of discrimination in the provision of benefits and
services to members of the public.
There are no confidentiality assurances associated with this
collection. The only privacy-sensitive information the form collects
are the names of Point of Contacts from recipient organizations.
Coverage for the collection of this information is provided under a
Department Privacy Impact Assessment, DHS/ALL/PIA-006 General Contacts
List.
DHS is seeking a revision of the collection for another three-year
period, proposing changes to Section 1 Instructions, Section 2
Organization Information and Section 5 Additional Information. The
changes to Sections 1, 2, and 5 do not impact the burden analysis for
the collection. The changes in burden reflect the increase in the
number of entities that are required to respond to the collection (as a
result of increased Department grantmaking), increase in hourly wage
rates as reported by BLS in the 2022 National Occupational Employment
and Wage Estimates, increase in hourly wage rates for Federal staff as
reported by Office of Personnel Management for 2023, increases in the
number of staff supporting the program, and development of an online
portal to streamline and modernize the submission process. Lastly, DHS
is changing the name of the collection from ``DHS Civil Rights
Compliance Form'' to ``DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool.''
The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in
comments which:
1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submissions of responses.
Analysis:
Agency: Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Title: DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool.
OMB Number: 1601-0024.
Frequency: Annually.
Affected Public: Entities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance
from DHS.
Number of Respondents: 5,000.
Estimated Time per Respondent: 3 hours.
Total Burden Hours: 10,050.
Robert Porter Dorr,
Executive Director, Business Management Directorate.
[FR Doc. 2024-02588 Filed 2-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9112-FL-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 8, 2024.
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