2014-30080. Agency Information Collection Activities: Regulation on Agency Protests

AGENCY:

Office of Chief Procurement Officer, Acquisition Policy and Legislation Office, DHS.

ACTION:

30-Day Notice and request for comments; Extension without Change, 1600-0004.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Homeland Security, Office of Chief Procurement Officer, Acquisition Policy and Legislation Office, 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 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35 DHS previously published this information collection request (ICR) in the Federal Register on Monday, October 6, 2014 at 79 FR 60178 for a 60-day public comment period. One comment was received by DHS. The purpose of this notice is to allow additional 30 days for public comments.

DATES:

Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until January 22, 2015. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.1.

ADDRESSES:

Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on the proposed information collection to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget. Comments should be addressed to OMB Desk Officer, Department of Homeland Security and sent via electronic mail to [e-mail] or faxed to [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR); 48 CFR Chapter 1 provides general procedures on handling protests submitted by contractors to federal agencies. This regulation provides detailed guidance for contractors doing business with acquisition offices within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement the FAR. FAR Part 33.103, Protests, Disputes, and Appeals prescribe policies and procedures for filing protests and for processing contract disputes and appeals.

DHS will not be asking for anything outside of what is already required in the FAR. Should anything outside the FAR arise, DHS will submit a request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. The prior information collect request for OMB No. 1600-004 was approved through May 31, 2014 by OMB in a Notice of OMB Action.

The information being collected will be obtained from contractors as part of their submissions whenever they file a bid protest with the Department's Components. The information will be used by DHS officials in deciding how the protest should be resolved. Failure to collect this information would result in delayed resolution of agency protests.

According to Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), the number of protest has increased each year over the past two years in annual respondent and burden hours. This increase in current protest activity is not the result of a deliberate program change, but from a new estimate of actions that are not controllable by the Federal government. Although, the number of protest has increased, there has not been any change in the information being collected.

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: Office of Chief Procurement Officer, Acquisition Policy and Legislation

Office, DHS

Title: Regulation on Agency Protests

OMB Number: 1600-0004

Frequency: Annually

Affected Public: Private Sector

Number of Respondents: 95

Estimated Time per Respondent: 2 hours

Total Burden Hours: 190

Dated: December 11, 2014.

Carlene C. Ileto,

Executive Director, Enterprise Business Management Office.