Notice2026-11111
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications (NSEPC)
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 3, 2026
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security Department
Abstract
The Emergency Communications Division within Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) submits the following information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance. CISA previously published this information collection request (ICR) in the Federal Register on July 18, 2025 for a 60-day public comment period. No comments were received by CISA. The purpose of this notice is to allow additional 30-days for public comments.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 3, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 3, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33187-33189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-11111]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback
on National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications (NSEPC)
AGENCY: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA),
Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
ACTION: 30-day notice of information collection; request for comment;
collection request, (request for OMB control number).
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SUMMARY: The Emergency Communications Division within Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) submits the following information
collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for review and clearance. CISA previously published this information
collection request (ICR) in the Federal Register on July 18, 2025 for a
60-day public comment period. No comments were received by CISA. The
purpose of this notice is to allow additional 30-days for public
comments.
DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until July 6, 2026.
Submissions received after the deadline for receiving comments may
not be considered.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If additional information is required
contact: Antonio Branham, 202-981-1930,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#efae819b80818680c18d9d8e81878e82af828e8683c18c869c8ec18b879cc1888099"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d293bca6bdbcbbbdfcb0a0b3bcbab3bf92bfb3bbbefcb1bba1b3fcb6baa1fcb5bda4">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive Order 12862 directs Federal
agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the
best service available in the private sector. Congress passed Public
Law 109-295 in 2006, which included Subtitle D, SEC. 671 `Emergency
Communications', also referred to as the `21st Century Emergency
Communications Act of 2006'. The legislation established the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications, which
was retitled in 2018 as the Emergency Communications Division (ECD)
(hereafter ``the Agency'') within CISA, to spearhead the development
and implementation efforts, on behalf of emergency responders and
government officials across public and private sectors, of an extensive
approach to advancing national interoperable communications
capabilities.
Under Subtitle D, SEC. 1801. Office of Emergency Communications, 6
U.S.C. 571(c), the following requirements and responsibilities were
established for the Director for Emergency Communications 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
[[Page 33188]]
natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters.
(5) conduct extensive nationwide outreach and foster the
development of interoperable emergency communications capabilities by
state, regional, local, and tribal governments, emergency responders,
public safety agencies, and by regional consortia thereof.
(8) promote the development of standard operating procedures and
best practices with respect to use of interoperable emergency
communications capabilities for incident response and facilitate the
sharing of information on such best practices for achieving,
maintaining, and enhancing interoperable emergency communications
capabilities for such response.
(9) coordinate, in cooperation with the National Communications
System, the establishment of a national response capability with
initial and ongoing planning, implementation, and training for the
deployment of communications equipment for relevant state, local, and
tribal governments and emergency response providers in the event of a
catastrophic loss of local and regional emergency communications
services.
(13) develop and update periodically, as appropriate, a National
Emergency Communications Plan 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
Sec. 1802. 6 U. S. C. Sec. 572 (a)-(c) requires the Director of
Emergency Communications, in cooperation with state, local, and tribal
governments, federal departments and agencies, emergency response
providers, and the private sector, develop no later than 180 days after
the completion of the baseline assessment under section 573 of this
title, and periodically update, a National Emergency Communications
Plan to support, promote, accelerate, and attain interoperable
emergency communications nationwide.
6 U. S. C Sec. 573 (a) requires the DHS Secretary to conduct an
assessment of Federal, State, local, and tribal governments that (1)
defines the range of capabilities needed by emergency response
providers and relevant government officials, (3) assesses the current
available capabilities to meet such communications needs; (4)
identifies the gap between such current capabilities and defined
requirements; at least every five years. This collection of information
is necessary to due to the requirement of continuous examinations of
nationwide emergency communications capabilities.
To continuously work to ensure that programs are effective and meet
customers' needs, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Emergency Communications Division seeks to obtain OMB approval through
the generic clearance process to collect qualitative and quantitative
feedback on national security and emergency preparedness
communications. Qualitative feedback means information that provides
useful insights on perceptions and opinions but are not statistical
surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the
population of study.
This information is an imperative requirement to address the
multifaceted national emergency and critical infrastructure plans and
interagency coordination to implement, support, protect, strengthen,
and enhance emergency communications capabilities. Enabling and
improving efforts to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an
efficient, and timely manner is vital to the security of the nation to
establish uniform policies, standards, and guidelines for integrating
emergency communications across federal infrastructure protection and
risk management within all 16 infrastructure sectors.
It will allow for insight into customer and stakeholder
perceptions, experiences and expectations, and to focus attention on
areas where emergency communications, public safety training, or
changes or in operations might improve ECD initiatives. The collections
from the NSEPC will allow for ongoing, collaborative, and actionable
communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders
while simultaneously contributing directly to the improvement of
program management.
Improving agency programs requires the consistency of ongoing
assessment of service delivery, meaning a systematic review of the
operation of a program compared to a set of explicit or implicit
standards, as a way of contributing to the continuous improvement of
the program. The Agency will collect, analyze, and interpret
information gathered through this generic clearance to identify
strengths and weaknesses of current services and make improvements in
service delivery based on feedback. The respondent pool consists of,
but is not limited to, federal, state, local, tribal, territorial and
industry users of emergency communications priority services. Responses
will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the
quality of service offered to the public. If this information is not
collected, vital feedback from customers and stakeholders on the
Agency's services will be unavailable. The Agency will only submit a
collection for approval under this generic clearance if it meets the
following conditions:
<bullet> Information gathered will be used only internally for
general service improvement and program management purposes and is not
intended for release outside of the agency. (If released, appropriate
Agency procedures will be followed);
<bullet> Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of
substantially informing influential policy decisions;
<bullet> Information gathered will yield qualitative information;
the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically
reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the
population of study;
<bullet> The collections are voluntary;
<bullet> The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or
burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents
and the Federal Government;
<bullet> The collections are and do not raise issues of concern to
other Federal agencies;
<bullet> Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions
from respondents who have experience with the program or may have
experience with the program in the near future; and
<bullet> With the exception of information needed to provide
renumeration for participants of focus groups and cognitive laboratory
studies, personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to
the extent necessary and is not retained.
If these conditions are not met, the Agency will submit an
information collection request to OMB for approval through the normal
PRA process. To obtain approval for a collection that meets the
conditions of this generic clearance, a standardized form will be
submitted to OMB along with supporting documentation (e.g., a copy of
the comment card). The submission will have automatic approval unless
OMB identifies issues within 5 business days.
[[Page 33189]]
The types of collections that this generic clearance covers
include, but are not limited to:
<bullet> Customer satisfaction surveys/feedback surveys
<bullet> Customer comment cards/complaint forms
<bullet> Self-Assessment questionnaire
<bullet> Small panel/discussion groups of customers, potential
customers, or other stakeholders
The Agency has established a manager/managing entity to serve for
this generic clearance and will conduct an independent review of each
information collection to ensure compliance with the terms of this
clearance prior to submitting each collection to OMB. If appropriate,
agencies will collect information electronically and/or use online
collaboration tools to reduce burden. Small business or other small
entities may be involved in these efforts, but the Agency will minimize
the burden on them of information collections approved under this
clearance by sampling, asking for readily available information, and
using short, easy-to-complete information collection instruments.
Without these types of feedback, the Agency will not have timely
information to adjust its services to meet customer needs. If a
confidentiality pledge is deemed useful and feasible, the Agency will
only include a pledge of confidentiality that is supported by authority
and agency policy, that is and that does not unnecessarily impede
sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use.
There are no program changes since the previous OMB approval.
This is a new information collection request.
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;
4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through utilization 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 for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback
on National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications (NSEPC).
OMB Number: 1670-NEW.
Frequency: Quarterly.
Affected Public: Federal, State, Local, Tribal, Territorial, And
Industry Users of National Security and Emergency Preparedness
Communications Public Safety Services.
Number of Respondents: 10,000,000 (customer satisfaction/feedback
surveys), 1,899,000 (customer comment cards/complaint forms), 100,000
(self-assessment questionnaire), 1,000 (small panel/discussion groups).
Estimated Time per Respondent: 30 minutes (customer satisfaction/
feedback surveys), 10 minutes (customer comment cards/complaint forms),
30 minutes (self-assessment questionnaire), 1 hour (small panel/
discussion groups).
Total Burden Hours: 5,368,133.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $292,350,840.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): $68,076.83.
Winfield P Werntz,
Acting Chief Information Officer, Department of Homeland Security,
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
[FR Doc. 2026-11111 Filed 6-2-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-LF-P
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