2019-27615. Submission for OMB Review; Renewal of Currently Approved Information Collection; Comment Request

The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).

Agency: National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Commerce.

Title: Limited Access Death Master File Accredited Conformity Assessment Body Application for Firewalled Status (Firewalled Status Application Form).

OMB Control Number: 0692-0015.

Form Number(s): NTIS FM101.

Type of Request: Renewal of a currently approved information collection.

Number of Respondents: NTIS expects to receive approximately 250 applications and renewals for certification every year for access to the Limited Access Death Master File, of which it expects that approximately 20% of the required assessments will be provided by Accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies that will seek firewalled status in a given year. Accordingly, NTIS estimates that it will receive approximately 50 Firewalled Status Application Forms.

Average Hours per Response: 1 hour.

Burden Hours: 50.

Needs and Uses: NTIS issued a final rule establishing a program through which persons may become eligible to obtain access to Death Master File (DMF) information about an individual within three years of that individual's death. The final rule was promulgated under Section 203 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, Public Law 113-67 (Act). The Act prohibits the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) from disclosing DMF information during the three-year period following an individual's death (Limited Access DMF), unless the person requesting the information has been certified to access the Limited Access DMF pursuant to certain criteria in a program that the Secretary establishes. The Secretary delegated the authority to carry out Section 203 to the Director of NTIS.

The final rule requires that, in order to become certified, a Person or Certified Person must submit a written attestation from an “Accredited Conformity Assessment Body” (ACAB), as defined in the final rule, that such Person has information security systems, facilities and procedures in place to protect the security of the Limited Access DMF, as required under Section 1110.102(a)(2) of the final rule. A Certified Person also must provide a new written attestation periodically for renewal of its certification as specified in the final rule. The ACAB must be independent of the Person or Certified Person seeking certification, unless it is a third-party conformity assessment body which qualifies for “firewalled status” pursuant to Section 1110.502 of the final rule.

The Firewalled Status Application Form collects information that NTIS will use to evaluate whether the respondent qualifies for “firewalled status” under the rule, and, therefore, can provide a written attestation in lieu of an independent ACAB's attestation. This information includes specific requirements of Section 1110.502(b) of the final rule, which the respondent ACAB must certify are satisfied, and the provision of specific information by the respondent ACAB, such as the identity of the Person or Certified Person that would be the subject of the attestation and the basis upon which the certifications were made.

Affected Public: ACABs seeking firewalled status under 15 CFR 1110.502 because they are “owned, managed or controlled” by the Person or Certified Person for whom they are providing assessment(s) and/or audit(s) under the final rule for “Certification Program for Access to the Death Master File.”

Frequency: Once per attestation.

Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.

This information collection request may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to [e-mail] or fax to [phone].

Sheleen Dumas,

Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Commerce Department.