Notice2025-16197
Agency Information Collection Activities: 1670-0048: SAFECOM Nationwide Surveys Generic Clearance
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
August 25, 2025
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security Department
Abstract
DHS CISA Emergency Communications Division (ECD) 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
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 162 (Monday, August 25, 2025)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 162 (Monday, August 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41400-41402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-16197]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
[Docket No. CISA-CISA-2025-0040]
Agency Information Collection Activities: 1670-0048: SAFECOM
Nationwide Surveys Generic Clearance
AGENCY: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA),
Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for comments; This is a renewal of a
previously approved information collection. OMB Control Number: 1670-
0048.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: DHS CISA Emergency Communications Division (ECD) 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 October 24,
2025. Submissions received after the deadline
[[Page 41401]]
for receiving comments may not be considered.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number CISA-
2025-0040 by one of the following methods:
<bullet> 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 words
``Department of Homeland Security'' and the docket number for this
action. Comments received will be posted without alteration at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any personal information provided.
Docket: For access to the docket and comments received, please go to
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> and enter docket number CISA-2025-0040. Comments
submitted in response to this notice may be made available to the
public through relevant websites. For this reason, please do not
include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such as
sensitive personal information or proprietary information. If you send
an email comment, your email address will be automatically captured and
included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and
made available on the internet. Please note that responses to this
public comment request containing any routine notice about the
confidentiality of the communication will be treated as public comments
that may be made available to the public notwithstanding the inclusion
of the routine notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Antonio Branham,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c485aab0abaaadabea86b6a5aaaca5a984a9a5ada8eaa7adb7a5eaa0acb7eaa3abb2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="45042b312a2b2c2a6b0737242b2d24280528242c296b262c36246b212d366b222a33">[email protected]</span></a>,
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2006, Congress passed Public Law 109-295,
which included SEC. 671. EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS also known as the
``21st Century Emergency Communications Act of 2006'. The legislation
established the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of
Emergency Communications, which was re-designated in 2018 as the
Emergency Communications Division (ECD) within the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), to lead the development and
implementation of a comprehensive approach to advancing national
interoperable communications capabilities. The following
responsibilities were established: 6 U.S.C. 571(c) requires the DHS
Secretary through the ECD Assistant Director to: (4) Conduct extensive,
nationwide outreach to support and promote the ability of emergency
response providers and relevant government officials to continue to
communicate in the event of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and
other man-made disasters; (13) develop and update periodically, as
appropriate, a National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) under
section 572 of this title; (14) perform such other duties of the
Department necessary to support and promote the ability of emergency
response providers and relevant government officials to continue to
communicate in the event of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and
other man-made disasters; and (15) perform other duties of the
Department necessary to achieve the goal of and maintain and enhance
interoperable emergency communications capabilities. 6 U.S.C. 572(a)
requires the Secretary in cooperation with State, local, and tribal
governments, Federal departments and agencies, emergency response
providers, and the private sector, develop not later than 180 days
after the completion of the baseline assessment under section 573 of
this title, and periodically update, NECP.
Lastly, 6 U.S.C. 573 requires the DHS Secretary to conduct an
assessment of Federal, State, local, and tribal governments that
defines the range of capabilities needed by emergency response
providers and relevant government officials, assesses the current
available capabilities to meet such communications needs; identify the
gaps between such current capabilities and defined requirements; at
least every five years. These authorities in addition to DHS
responsibilities through Executive Order 13618 in the area of national
security/emergency providers' communications, require periodic
reexamination of nationwide emergency communications capabilities.
To perform these statutory obligations, CISA seeks renewal of its
PRA Generic Clearance to maintain flexibility in implementing surveys
that are relevant to the current emergency communications environment.
To meet the statutory requirements of 6 U.S.C. 573, ECD conducts the
SAFECOM Nationwide Survey (SNS) to assess evolving capability needs and
gaps and track progress against policy initiatives, status of strategic
plans, and major industry or market shifts affecting the emergency
communications capability.
The purpose of the SNS is to gather information to assess available
emergency communications capabilities and identify gaps and needs for
emergency response providers to effectively communicate during all
types of natural or man-made hazards. CISA ECD uses this information to
complete a statutorily mandated assessment and share the data with all
stakeholders that have a role in emergency communications. In order to
ascertain this information, the SNS is comprised of a battery of
instruments designed and distributed to emergency response disciplines
at the federal, state/territorial, tribal, and local (county and
municipal) levels of government, as well as the private sector. Methods
of administration (questionnaire or interview) and distribution (online
web form distributed via email or print forms distributed by mail) are
used as appropriate to meet the needs and preferences of various
segments of the target population. The SNS solicits responses regarding
issues affecting the emergency communications to determine a
jurisdiction's level of communications operability, interoperability,
continuity, and security. CISA ECD analyzes the data collected from
this general survey to identify major gaps and themes affecting
emergency communications across levels of government. This analysis
informs the development of supplemental surveys and information
collections tailored to specific needs across the emergency response
community, as well as future iterations of the Nationwide Baseline
Communications Assessment (NCBA), Biennial Progress Report (BPR),
National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP), and other products and
initiatives that enable ECD to carry out its statutory responsibilities
at 6 U.S.C. 571(c).
Findings from the SNS provide invaluable insights that CISA ECD
shares with emergency communications partners at all levels of
government which assists with: (1) Statewide Communications
Interoperability Plan (SCIP) development, (2) Threat and Hazard
Identification Risk Analysis (THIRA) development, (3) state-level grant
programs and guidance, and (4) funding and resource sharing strategy
development.
CISA ECD also conducts supplemental surveys to complete statutorily
mandated activities (6 U.S.C. 571(c), 572(a), and 573) and will share
the data with relevant emergency communications partners. The SAFECOM
supplemental surveys deploy topic-specific or targeted surveys to
various emergency response disciplines at the federal, state,
territorial, tribal, and local levels of government, as appropriate, as
well as the private sector. The instruments solicit responses regarding
targeted issues affecting specific segments of the emergency response
community. CISA ECD analyzes the data collected from these supplemental
surveys to identify
[[Page 41402]]
changing requirements, mitigate risks, and help further inform the data
collected from the SNS.
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: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
(CISA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Title: Generic Clearance: SAFECOM Nationwide Surveys Generic
Clearance.
OMB Number: 1670-0048.
Frequency: Annually.
Affected Public: State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Governments.
Number of Respondents: 7,215.
Estimated Time per Respondent: 0.5 hours.
Total Burden Hours: 3,643 hours.
Total Annual Burden Cost: $179,570.66.
Total Annual Cost to Government Cost: $168,515.35.
Robert J. Costello,
Chief Information Officer, Department of Homeland Security,
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
[FR Doc. 2025-16197 Filed 8-22-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-LF-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 25, 2025.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.