Notice2025-10879
Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request
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
June 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
National Science Foundation
Abstract
The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF), as the Standard Application Process (SAP) Program Management Office designated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is seeking approval to renew the SAP Portal information collection as a Common Form, OMB control number 3145-0271, to permit other federal agency users to streamline the information collection in coordination with OMB. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the proposed SAP Portal information collection as a Common Form, prior to the submission of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval. In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, NCSES is providing opportunity for public comment on this action. After obtaining and considering public comment, NCSES will prepare the submission requesting that OMB renew this information collection for three years.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 114 (Monday, June 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 114 (Monday, June 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25380-25382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-10879]
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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request
AGENCY: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics,
National Science Foundation.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
(NCSES) within the National Science Foundation (NSF), as the Standard
Application Process (SAP) Program Management Office designated by the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is seeking approval to renew the
SAP Portal information collection as a Common Form, OMB control number
3145-0271, to permit other federal agency users to streamline the
information collection in coordination with OMB. The purpose of this
notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment on the proposed SAP
Portal information collection as a Common Form, prior to the submission
of the information collection request (ICR) to OMB for approval. In
accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, NCSES is providing opportunity for public comment on this action.
After obtaining and considering public comment, NCSES will prepare the
submission requesting that OMB renew this information collection for
three years.
DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by August 15,
2025 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date
will be considered to the extent practicable. Send comments to the
address below.
Comments: Comments are invited on (a) whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the federal statistical agencies, including whether the information has
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the NSF's estimate of the burden
of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the
existing SAP Portal to improve the user experience; and (d) ways to
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance
Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite
W18253, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone (703) 292-7556; or send
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e49794888d8994908ba48a9782ca838b92"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4a393a2623273a3e250a24392c642d253c">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339, which is accessible 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, 365 days a year (including Federal holidays).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Foundations for Evidence-Based
Policymaking Act of 2018 mandates that OMB establish a Standard
Application Process (SAP) for requesting access to certain confidential
data assets. While the adoption of the SAP is required for statistical
agencies and units designated under CIPSEA, it is recognized that other
agencies and organizational units within the Executive branch may
benefit from the adoption of the SAP to accept applications for access
to confidential data assets. The SAP is a process through which
agencies, the Congressional Budget Office, State, local, and Tribal
governments, researchers, and other individuals, as appropriate, may
apply to access confidential data assets held by a federal statistical
agency or unit for the purposes of developing evidence. With the
Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP) as advisors, the
entities upon whom this requirement is levied worked with the SAP
Program Management Office (PMO) and with OMB to implement the SAP and
continue to work to manage and enhance the overall process. The SAP
Portal is a single online common application for the public to request
access to confidential data assets from federal statistical agencies
and units.
This request is on behalf of the following federal statistical
agencies and units, which may use the Common Form:
<bullet> Bureau of Economic Analysis (Department of Commerce)
<bullet> Bureau of Justice Statistics (Department of Justice)
<bullet> Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor)
<bullet> Bureau of Transportation Statistics (Department of
Transportation)
<bullet> Census Bureau (Department of Commerce)
<bullet> Economic Research Service (Department of Agriculture)
<bullet> Energy Information Administration (Department of Energy)
<bullet> National Agricultural Statistics Service (Department of
Agriculture)
<bullet> National Center for Education Statistics (Department of
Education)
<bullet> National Center for Health Statistics (Department of Health
and Human Services)
<bullet> National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
(National Science Foundation)
<bullet> Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics (Social
Security Administration)
<bullet> Statistics of Income Division (Income Revenue Service)
<bullet> Microeconomic Surveys Unit (Federal Reserve Board)
<bullet> Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality
(Department of Health and Human Services)
<bullet> National Animal Health Monitoring System (Department of
Agriculture)
Title of Collection: Standard Application Process (SAP) Portal.
OMB Control Number: 3145-0271.
Expiration Date of Current Approval: December 31, 2025.
Type of Request: Intent to seek approval to collect information
from the public through the Standard Application Process (SAP) Portal,
as a Common Form. Abstract: Established within the NSF by the America
COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 Sec. 505, codified in the
National Science
[[Page 25381]]
Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, the National Center for Science and
Engineering Statistics (NCSES) serves as a central Federal
clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, analysis, and
dissemination of objective data on science, engineering, technology,
and research and development for use by practitioners, researchers,
policymakers, and the public.
Title III of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of
2018 (hereafter referred to as the Evidence Act) mandates that OMB
establish a Standard Application Process (SAP) for requesting access to
certain confidential data assets. Specifically, the Evidence Act
requires OMB to establish a common application process through which
agencies, the Congressional Budget Office, State, local, and Tribal
governments, researchers, and other individuals, as appropriate, may
apply for access to confidential data assets collected, accessed, or
acquired by a statistical agency or unit. This process was implemented
with stringent controls to protect confidentiality and privacy, as
required by the law.
The Evidence Act requires that each statistical agency or unit
establish an identical application process. The Evidence Act further
requires that federal statistical agencies establish common criteria
for determining whether to approve an application for confidential
data, timeframes for prompt determination, an appeals process for
adverse determinations, and standards for transparency. In response to
these requirements, the statistical agencies and units operate an
online portal (referred to as the SAP Portal) on behalf of OMB to
provide the common application form to applicants. The objective of the
SAP Portal is to increase public access to confidential data for the
purposes of evidence building and reduce the burden of applying for
confidential data.
Data collected, accessed, or acquired by statistical agencies and
units is vital for developing evidence on conditions, characteristics,
and behaviors of the public and on the operations and outcomes of
public programs and policies. This evidence can benefit the
stakeholders in the programs, the broader public, as well as
policymakers and program managers at the local, State, Tribal, and
National levels. The many benefits of access to data for evidence
building notwithstanding, the process of discovering confidential data,
applying for access, and, in certain cases, revising an application or
appealing an adverse determination through the SAP Portal still places
a burden on the public, as outlined below.
The SAP Policy: At the recommendation of the ICSP, the SAP Policy
establishes the SAP implemented by statistical agencies and units and
incorporates directives from the Evidence Act. The policy is intended
to provide guidance as to the application and review processes using
the SAP Portal, setting forth clear standards that enable statistical
agencies and units to implement a common application form and a uniform
review process. The methods of collection outlined below are in
accordance with the SAP Policy. The SAP Policy was submitted to the
public for comment in January 2022 (87 FR 2459, 2022). The policy was
issued by OMB in December of 2022 as M-23 (<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/M-23-04.pdf">https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/M-23-04.pdf</a>).
For the purpose of the SAP Policy, the application process begins
with an applicant discovering a confidential data asset for which a
statistical agency or unit is accepting applications to access for the
purpose of building evidence and ends with the agency or unit's
determination on whether to grant access. In the case of an adverse
determination, the application process ends with the conclusion of an
appeals process if the applicant elects to appeal the determination.
The SAP Portal: The SAP Portal is an online interface connecting
applicants seeking data with a catalog of data assets owned by the
federal statistical agencies and units as well as an application to
apply for those assets. The SAP Portal is not a data repository or
warehouse; confidential data assets continue to be stored in secure
data access facilities owned and hosted by the federal statistical
agencies and units. The portal provides a streamlined application
process across agencies, reducing redundancies in the application
process. This single SAP Portal improves the process for applicants,
tracking and communicating the application process throughout its
lifecycle. This reduces redundancies and burden on applicants that
request access to data from multiple agencies. The SAP Portal automates
key tasks to save resources and time and brings agencies into
compliance with the Evidence Act statutory requirements.
Data Discovery: Individuals begin the process of accessing
restricted use data by discovering confidential data assets through the
SAP data catalog, maintained by federal statistical agencies at
<a href="http://www.researchdatagov.org">www.researchdatagov.org</a>. Potential applicants can search by agency,
topic, or keyword to identify data of interest or relevance. Once they
have identified data of interest, applicants can view metadata
outlining the title, description or abstract, scope and coverage, and
detailed methodology related to a specific data asset to determine its
relevance to their research.
While statistical agencies and units shall endeavor to include
metadata in the SAP data catalog on all confidential data assets for
which they accept applications, it may not be feasible to include
metadata for some data assets (e.g., potential curated versions of
administrative data). A statistical agency or unit may still accept an
application through the SAP Portal even if all requested data assets
are not listed in the SAP data catalog.
SAP Application Process: Individuals who have identified and wish
to access confidential data assets can apply for access through the SAP
Portal. Applicants must create an account and follow all steps to
complete the application. Applicants begin by entering their personal,
contact, and institutional information, as well as the personal,
contact, and institutional information of all individuals on their
research team. Applicants proceed to provide summary information about
their proposed project, including project title, duration, funding,
timeline, and other details including the data asset(s) they are
requesting and any proposed linkages to data not listed in the SAP data
catalog, including non-federal data sources. Applicants then proceed to
enter detailed information regarding their proposed project, including
a project abstract, research question(s), literature review, project
scope, research methodology, project products, and anticipated output.
Applicants must demonstrate a need for confidential data, outlining why
their research question cannot be answered using publicly available
information.
Submission for Review: Upon submission of their application,
applicants receive a notification that their application has been
received and is under review by the data-owning agency or agencies (in
the event where data assets are requested from multiple agencies).
In accordance with the Evidence Act and the direction of the ICSP,
agencies approve or reject an application within a prompt timeframe. In
some cases, agencies may determine that additional clarity,
information, or modification is needed and request the applicant to
``revise and resubmit'' their application. This is also in accordance
with the SAP Policy.
Appeals Process: In the event of an adverse determination, the
applicant is
[[Page 25382]]
provided justification through the SAP Portal detailing the
determination. The SAP Portal provides the applicant with the option to
submit an appeal for reconsideration by the data-owning agency or
agencies. Applicants can also file an appeal for noncompliance with the
SAP Policy.
Access to Restricted Use Data: In the event of a positive
determination, applicants are notified that their proposal has been
accepted and that application approval does not alone grant access to
confidential data, and that applicants must comply with the data-owning
agency's security requirements outside of the SAP Portal, which may
include a background check. In the event of an adverse determination,
the applicant is notified of the decision and their right to appeal the
decision. The positive or final adverse determination concludes the
SAP-Portal process. In the instance of a positive determination, the
data-owning agency (or agencies) will contact the applicant to provide
instructions on the agency's security requirements that must be
completed to gain access to the confidential data. The completion and
submission of the agency's security requirements occurs outside of the
SAP Portal and is therefore not included in the estimate of burden
below.
Estimate of Burden: The amount of time to complete an application
within the SAP Portal may vary depending on the number of individuals
on the application, the topic of the proposal, and the data assets
being requested. To request access to NCSES data assets, it is
estimated that the average time to complete and submit an application
within the SAP Portal is 60 minutes. This estimate includes the time
needed to complete the SAP Portal application fields (applicant
information and research proposal); it does not include an estimate of
the time needed to develop a research proposal itself. The research
proposal is developed outside of the SAP Portal and may be written for
multiple audiences (e.g., to solicit funding); therefore, it is not
included in the estimate of burden for the SAP Portal.
The expected number of applications submitted to NCSES in a given
year may vary. Overall, NCSES estimates it may receive up to 20
application submissions within the SAP Portal per year. NCSES estimates
that the total burden for the SAP Portal over the course of the three-
year OMB clearance will be about 60 hours and, as a result, an average
annual burden of 20 hours.
Dated: June 10, 2025.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2025-10879 Filed 6-13-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P
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