7...............................               0              12              12               7              10
8...............................               0              12              12               7               9
9...............................               0              12              12               7               9
10..............................               0              12              12               6               9
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................          39,545             120          39,665          37,042          38,496
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annualized......................  ..............  ..............  ..............           5,274           4,513
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Benefits
    FEMA was unable to quantify benefits of the proposed regulatory
changes due to a lack of data on future impacts of adjusting
declaration factors. FEMA instead focused on proposed regulatory
changes that would provide FEMA with a more accurate assessment of
whether an incident has exceeded an Applicant's capabilities to respond
to and recover from an incident. This is because the minimum threshold
and per capita indicator have not consistently been updated to account
for inflation, and not based on a State's fiscal capacity to respond.
The proposed changes would ensure that these factors are taken into
account. FEMA believes that the proposed changes also would incentivize
Applicants to invest more in response, recovery, and mitigation
capabilities, since Federal assistance would be focused on larger-scale
disasters, and Applicants will have more responsibility to ensure they
are adequately equipped to handle smaller disasters. This would provide
a better distribution of responsibilities between the Applicants and
the Federal Government. These incentives would increase overall
national preparedness for incidents. In addition, FEMA believes these
changes to the PA declaration factors would result in a reduction in
the number of declarations for smaller incidents, allowing FEMA to
refine its focus and resources on larger incidents without the
complications of reallocating response resources from multiple smaller-
scale commitments, that States and local governments would have the
capacity to manage without Federal assistance. FEMA requests public
comment on the ability of Applicants to invest more in response,
recovery, and mitigation capabilities.
Summary
    Table 6 provides a summary of the annual and total quantified
costs, cost savings, and reduction in transfers by category after
implementation of the proposed rule, and Table 7 provides the A-4
accounting summary.

   Table 6--Summary of Transfers and Cost Savings of the Proposed Rule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Annual
          Transfer, cost, or cost savings item             undiscounted
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reduction in Transfers
    PA Funding..........................................    $144,534,939
    HMGP Funding........................................      33,330,171
    BRIC Funding........................................       7,267,390
    PA Management Cost Funding..........................      17,344,193
    HMGP Management Cost................................       4,999,526
Funding
    BRIC Management Cost Funding........................       1,282,481
                                                         ---------------
        Total Reduction in Transfers....................     208,758,700
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cost Savings
    Applicant Paperwork Cost Savings....................       8,035,714
    FEMA Administrative Cost............................      62,409,381
Savings
    FEMA Paperwork Cost Savings.........................         300,672
    Total FEMA Cost Savings.............................      62,710,053
                                                         ---------------
        Total Cost Savings (Applicants and FEMA)........      70,745,767
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Costs
    Applicant Costs.....................................
        Year 1..........................................          39,545
        Years 2-10......................................               0
    FEMA Costs..........................................              12
                                                         ---------------
        Total Costs, Year 1.............................          39,557
        Total Costs, Years 2-10.........................              12
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                        Table 7 A-4 Accounting Statement
                                                     [$2018]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        Period of Analysis: 2008 to 2017
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   7 percent discount  3 percent discount
             Category                     rate                rate         Source citation (RIA, preamble, etc.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENEFITS:
    Annualized Quantified........          N/A                 N/A
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Qualitative..................   Provide FEMA with a more       RIA Section 12.
                                   accurate assessment of whether an
                                   incident exceeds Applicant
                                   capabilities.
                                    Allow FEMA to focus efforts
                                   and resources on larger incidents.
                                    Provide better distribution
                                   of responsibilities between Applicants
                                   and the Federal Government.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COSTS:
    Annualized Monetized                0.005274            0.004513       RIA Section 8.
     $millions/year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annualized quantified............                N/A                 N/A
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Qualitative..................   Applicants would need to
                                   invest more in response, recovery, and
                                   mitigation capabilities.
                                    Damaged facilities may not be
                                   repaired or replaced, and could be
                                   susceptible to future disasters.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COST SAVINGS:
    Annualized Monetized                       70.75               70.75   RIA Section 8.
     $millions/year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSFERS:
    Annualized Monetized                      208.76              208.76   RIA Section 9.
     $millions/year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    From/To......................  Reduction in transfers from FEMA to PA  RIA Section 9.
                                   Applicants
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Category              Effects                                            Source citation
                                                                           (RIA, preamble, etc.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State, Local, and/or Tribal        Included in the Cost Savings is $5.88   RIA.
 Government.                       million annual paperwork cost savings
                                   to Applicants. Included in the
                                   Transfers is $8.48 million in PA
                                   funding that Tribal Applicants would
                                   not have received from 2008-20187.
                                   However, $7.11 of that funding would
                                   have potentially been available for
                                   Tribal governments had that requested
                                   a disaster declaration under the
                                   Tribal Declarations Pilot Guidance.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small business...................  There were 7,456 unique Applicants for  RFA (IRFA).
                                   the 159 removed PA disasters from 2008-
                                   2017. Using a sample size of 380, FEMA
                                   found that 79% were likely to be small
                                   entities (5,890 Applicants). The
                                   average PA funding received per small
                                   entity in the sample was $168,046,
                                   with a range from a low of $0 to a
                                   high of $20.65 million. If the changes
                                   in the proposed rule were in effect,
                                   these entities would not have received
                                   this PA funding.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wages............................  None.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Growth...........................  None.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.)
requires agency review of proposed and final rules to assess their
impact on small entities. When an agency promulgates a notice of
proposed rulemaking under 5 U.S.C. 553, the agency must prepare an
initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA) unless it determines and
certifies pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that a rule, if promulgated,
would not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small
entities. However, FEMA is publishing this IRFA to aid the public in
commenting on the potential small entity impacts of the proposed
requirements in this NPRM. FEMA invites all interested parties to
submit data and information regarding the potential direct economic
impacts on small entities that would result from the adoption of this
NPRM. FEMA will consider all comments received in the public comment
process.
    In accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C.
601 et seq., as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-121, 110 Stat. 857), FEMA prepared
this IRFA to examine the impacts of the proposed rule on small
entities. A small entity may be: A small independent business, defined
as independently owned and operated, is organized for profit, and is
not dominant in its field per the Small Business Act (5 U.S.C. 632); a
small not-for-profit organization (any not-for-profit enterprise which
is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field);
or a small governmental jurisdiction (locality with fewer than 50,000
people) per 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
    FEMA has discussed most of these issues in other sections of the
NPRM and in the stand-alone RIA found in the docket of this rulemaking.
In this section, FEMA will address the issues specific to the analysis
of small entities that have not been addressed elsewhere.
    1. A description of the reasons why action by the agency is being
considered.
    FEMA is proposing to amend the estimated cost of the assistance
factor, including the minimum threshold, in 44 CFR 206.48. Pursuant to
44 CFR 206.48, FEMA considers several factors when determining whether
to recommend that the President declare a major disaster authorizing
the PA program. Since 1986, FEMA has evaluated the estimated cost of
Federal and non-Federal public assistance against the statewide
population and used a per capita dollar amount (set at $1 in 1986) as
an indicator that a disaster may warrant Federal assistance. FEMA did
not increase the indicator until 1999, when it began adjusting for
inflation in 1999 and annually thereafter. Also, in 1999, FEMA
established a $1 million minimum threshold, meaning it would not
recommend that the President authorize the PA program unless there was
at least $1 million in PA damage, which FEMA believed was a level of
damage even the least populous States could handle with their own
resources. FEMA has never increased this threshold. The current per
capita indicator and minimum threshold do not provide an accurate
measure of States' capabilities to respond to disasters. The lack of
increases to the per capita indicator from 1986 to 1999 undercut the
value of this factor as an indicator of State capacity given the
inflation increases during that time. With respect to the minimum
threshold, a 1999 determination by FEMA that all States could handle at
least $1.0 million in damages with their own resources is outdated
given the 53.5 percent increase from 1999 in the inflation rate over
the last 20 years and rising State budgets and expenditures.\113\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \113\ January 1999 CPI-U of 164.3 and August 2018 CPI-U of
252.146. Calculation: (252.146-164.3)/164.3 = 53.5% (rounded).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Additionally, FEMA proposes to use the U.S. Census Bureau's annual
population estimates produced under the PEP instead of the decennial
census population data when calculating the State COA indicators. These
changes would ensure a more accurate assessment of an individual
State's financial capability to respond to and recover from a disaster,
which would better enable FEMA to achieve its readiness and
preparedness missions by allowing FEMA to expend more attention and
resources on disasters that exceed the States' capabilities.
    2. A succinct statement of the objectives of, and legal basis for,
the proposed rule.
    Section 1239 of DRRA directs FEMA to review the factors it
considers when evaluating a request for a major disaster declaration,
specifically the estimated cost of assistance factor, and to initiate
rulemaking to update the declaration factors. FEMA proposes to amend 44
CFR 206.48(a) to make changes to the estimated cost of assistance
factor.
    FEMA is proposing to revise the cost of assistance estimates factor
in 44 CFR 206.48(a)(1) by increasing the per capita indicator to
account for inflation from 1986 to 1999 and adjusting the individual
States' indicators by their TTR, and by increasing the minimum
threshold by accounting for inflation from 1999 to 2019, and annually
thereafter. FEMA also proposes to use the U.S. Census Bureau's annual
population estimates produced under PEP instead of the decennial census
population data. These changes would provide FEMA with a better
informed and more accurate assessment of whether an incident has
exceeded State capabilities when it makes its recommendations to the
President; incentivize States to invest more in response, recovery, and
mitigation capabilities, which would provide a better distribution of
responsibilities between the States and the Federal Government and
better overall national preparedness for disasters; and the associated
reductions in declarations of smaller incidents would allow FEMA to
better focus its efforts and resources on large disasters without the
complications of reallocating resources from multiple smaller-scale
commitments.
    3. A description of and, where feasible, an estimate of the number
of small entities to which the rule will apply.
    The proposed rule directly affects all Applicants that are eligible
to request PA under a Federal major disaster declaration authorizing
PA. Eligible Applicants for PA include: State and Territorial
governments, including the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and
the U.S. Virgin Islands; federally recognized Indian Tribal
Governments, including Alaska Native villages and organizations; local
governments; and certain private nonprofits.\114\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \114\ To be an eligible private nonprofit applicant, the private
nonprofit must show that it has: A current ruling letter from the
U.S. Internal Revenue Service granting tax exemption under sections
501(c), (d), or (e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, or
documentation from the State substantiating it is a non-revenue
producing, nonprofit entity organized or doing business under State
law. Additionally, prior to determining whether the private
nonprofit is eligible, FEMA must first determine whether the private
nonprofit owns or operates an eligible facility.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    FEMA reviewed the PA disasters that it identified that likely would
not have been declared from 2008-2017 due to the proposed rule, as
presented in Table 8-1 in Section 8 of the stand-alone RIA found in the
docket of this rulemaking, to estimate the number of small entities to
which the proposed rule would apply. For each of the 159 PA disasters
removed, FEMA used PA data in FEMA's Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW)
database to identify the Applicants for each of the PA disasters.

FEMA found there were 7,456 unique Applicants for the 158 PA disasters.
    FEMA selected a random sample of 383 Applicants from the 7,456
unique Applicants to estimate the percentage that are small
entities.\115\ The term ``small entities'' includes small businesses
that meet the Small Business Administration (SBA) size standard for
small business concerns at 13 CFR 121.201, not-for-profit organizations
that are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their
fields, and governmental jurisdictions with population of less than
50,000. FEMA researched and found data and information on 383 randomly
sampled Applicants. FEMA found that of the 383 Applicants, 25 were
classified as State governments, 312 were local governments, 3 were
Tribal governments, and 43 were nonprofits. FEMA removed the 3 Tribal
governments from the sample as they are sovereign entities and are not
covered by the RFA. State governments are not considered small entities
because they have populations greater than 50,000. For the Applicants
classified as local governments, FEMA used 2010 decennial Census Bureau
population data to determine the Applicant population size. Of the 312
local governments, 259 (or 83 percent) had populations below 50,000 and
would be considered as small entities. For nonprofit Applicants, FEMA
reviewed the nonprofit's website utilizing an open source database
(Manta.com) and any other publicly available information to determine
the size of the nonprofit and ownership. FEMA researched the 43 private
nonprofits and found that all of them were independently owned and
operated and are not dominant in their field. Therefore, FEMA assumed
all 43 private nonprofits were likely to be small entities. Table 8
summarizes the findings of the small entity threshold analysis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \115\ FEMA used Slovin's formula to determine the sample size.
Using a 95 percent confidence interval, a sample size of 380
recipients and subrecipients is sufficient. Slovin's formula = N/
(1+Ne[supcaret]2) = 7,456/(1 + 7,456 * (0.05[supcaret]2)) = 379.633,
rounded up to 380.

                                    Table 8--Summary of Applicants in Sample
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   Exceed  small   Below  small
                Type of recipient or subrecipient                     entity          entity           Total
                                                                     threshold       threshold
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State Government................................................              25               0              25
Local Government................................................              53             259             312
Private Nonprofits..............................................               0              43              43
Total...........................................................              78             302             380
Percentage......................................................             21%             79%            100%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Of the 380 Applicants, FEMA found that 302 entities were small as
defined by the SBA thresholds. Therefore, FEMA estimates that 79% of
the total 7,456 Applicants of PA were small entities (5,890 Applicants
were small entities). The 302 sampled small entities received a total
of $50.75 million in PA funding for the disasters removed from 2008-
2017 according to FEMA's EDW database. If the changes in the proposed
rule were in effect, these entities would not have received this PA
funding. The average PA funding received per small entity in the sample
was $168,046 over the 10-year period. The PA funding a small entity
received ranged from a low of $0 to a high of $20.65 million. Of the
302 small entities, 4 received $0 in PA funding. FEMA welcomes any data
or comments from the public on the number of small entities that may be
impacted by this proposed rule an any impacts to those small entities.
    4. A description of the projected reporting, recordkeeping and
other compliance requirements of the proposed rule, including an
estimate of the classes of small entities which will be subject to the
requirement and the type of professional skills necessary for
preparation of the report or record.
    The proposed rule would call for a revision of a collection of
information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520). This proposed rule would call for amendments to the existing
collection requirements previously approved under the collections of
information (COI) with OMB Control Numbers 1660-0009 and 1660-
0017.\116\ The costs associated with COI 1660-0009 include the time and
cost burden for an Applicant to request a disaster declaration. A
request for a disaster declaration comes from the State level. There is
no burden for small entities included in COI 1660-0009, as the burden
to complete FEMA form 010-0-13 is completed by the equivalent of a
State Government Chief Executive and a State Administrative Support
Worker. Therefore, there is no paperwork burden impact to small
entities for COI 1660-0009.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \116\ ``Public Assistance Program'', 1660-0017 can be found at
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201902-1660-001. The most recently approved ICR at the time of this analysis was
ICR Reference Number<PHONE_NUMBER>-001. ``The Declaration Process:
Requests for Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA), Requests for
Supplemental Federal Disaster Assistance, Appeals, and Requests for
Cost Share Adjustments'', 1660-0009 can be found at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201905-1660-003. The
most recently approved ICR at the time of this analysis was ICR
Reference Number<PHONE_NUMBER>-003.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The costs associated with COI 1660-0017 include the time and cost
burden for Applicants to provide FEMA information that is required for
PA program eligibility determinations, grants management, and
compliance with other Federal laws and regulations. For the 159 PA
disasters removed from 2008-2017 from this proposed rule, there would
be a reduction in paperwork burden for Applicants that applied for the
PA program, as covered by COI 1660-0017. There would be a reduction in
respondents for FEMA Forms 009-0-49, 009-0-91, 009-0-91A, 009-0-91B,
009-0-91C, 009-0-91D, 009-0-120, 009-0-121, 009-0-123, 009-0-124, 009-
0-125, 009-0-126, 009-0-127, 009-0-128, and 009-0-141. The number of
respondents would not change for FEMA Form 009-0-111, State
Administrative Plan and State Plan Amendments (no form), Request for
Appeals and Recommendation (no form), and Requests for Arbitration and
Recommendation resulting from Hurricanes Katrina or Rita (no form), as
these forms are not impacted by the proposed rule.
    The burden per response varies by form (see Table 9 in Section E,
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995). The number of forms each Applicant
fills out varies by Applicant and by disaster. If an Applicant fills
out every form impacted by this proposed rule, the maximum burden per
Applicant is 11.4

hours (found using the ``Average Hourly Burden'' column in Table 9,
excluding those forms or items not impacted by the proposed rule).
Therefore, small entities would have a maximum reduction of 11.4 hours
of paperwork burden for each PA disaster removed due to the proposed
rule. FEMA previously estimated that 79% of the total 7,456 Applicants
of PA for the 159 removed PA disasters were small entities (5,890
Applicants were small entities). If all 5,890 small entity Applicants
had filled out every form impacted by the proposed rule, there would
have been a reduction in paperwork burden of 67,146 hours (5,890 small
entities x 11.4 hours) from 2008-2017. There are no additional
reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements resulting
from this proposed rule.
    5. An identification, to the extent practicable, of all relevant
Federal rules which may duplicate, overlap or conflict with the
proposed rule.
    There are no relevant Federal rules that may duplicate, overlap, or
conflict with this proposed rule.
    6. A description of any significant alternatives to the proposed
rule which accomplish the stated objectives of applicable statutes and
which minimize any significant economic impact of the proposed rule on
small entities.
    FEMA considered several alternatives to the proposed changes to the
per capita indicator and the minimum threshold. The alternatives are
described in more detail in Section 15 of the stand-alone RIA found in
the docket of this rulemaking. Because PA is approved at the State
level, this proposed rule would only directly affect States. Small
entities would be indirectly affected by a reduction in declared
disasters at the State level, but FEMA is unable to address the impacts
to small entities directly. A summary of those alternatives follows.
    FEMA considered two alternatives to adjusting the per capita
indicator: adjusting the per capita indicator by PCPI and adjusting the
per capita indicator by PCPI and then adjusting by TTR. The preliminary
estimate for 2018 US PCPI is $53,712.\117\ FEMA established the per
capita indicator at $1 in 1986 based on the 1983 US PCPI, which was the
latest available published information at the time. The PCPI used to
set the original per capita indicator was $11,687.\118\ PCPI increased
by 360 percent from 1983 to 2018 (($53,712-$11,687)/$11,687). FEMA used
the PCPI estimate of $11,687 from the 1986 proposed rulemaking as this
was the data FEMA used to set the original per capita indicator.
Applying the increase in PCPI to the original per capita indicator of
$1 would result in a per capita indicator of $4.60. The per capita
indicator alternatives resulted in per capita indicators that were
higher than the proposed changes, which would result in more PA
disasters that would not have exceeded the proposed thresholds from
2008-2017. Fewer PA disasters would result in more small entities
impacted by the proposed rule, since fewer declared disasters would
lead to a reduction in Public Assistance provided to local governments
and Private Non-Profits within each State. FEMA rejected the PCPI-based
per capita indicator thresholds because FEMA believed the resulting per
capita indicators may be too high for some States to meet. Moreover,
the potentially large changes to PCPI from year to year, in comparison
to changes to the CPI-U, could result in instability and uncertainty in
what the per capita indicator may be each year for individual States
and make it more difficult for States to plan.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \117\ State Annual Personal Income, 2018 (Preliminary) and State
Quarterly Personal Income, 4th Quarter 2018, Table 1: Personal
Income, Population, and Per Capita Personal Income, by State and
Region, 2017-2018, https://www.bea.gov/system/files/2019-03/spi0319.pdf.
    \118\ Disaster Assistance; Subpart C, the Declaration Process
and State Commitments, 51 FR 13333, Apr. 18, 1986, found at http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/fedreg/fr051/fr051075/fr051075.pdf. FEMA
began using $1 per capita informally in 1986. Revisions were made to
the BEA 1983 PCPI after publication of the proposed 1986 rule. FEMA
used the PCPI of $11,687 to maintain consistency with the data used
at the time of establishing the per capita indicator.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    FEMA considered four alternatives to adjusting the minimum
threshold using CPI-U: Using the change in GDP, State expenditures, or
TTR to adjust the minimum threshold, or using FEMA administrative costs
to calculate a minimum threshold for which FEMA's administrative burden
exceeded the amount of Federal assistance provided. The minimum
threshold alternatives resulted in minimum thresholds that were higher
than the proposed minimum threshold and would have led to a 1 percent
increase in the PA disasters that would not have exceeded the
thresholds. Fewer PA disasters could result in more small entities
impacted by the proposed rule. FEMA rejected adjusting the minimum
threshold using the change in GDP, State expenditures, or TTR because
the alternatives increase the complexity of calculating the threshold,
but have little additional impact on the reduction in total PA
disasters.
    FEMA rejected using administrative costs to calculate a minimum
threshold because FEMA was unable to derive a specific dollar value of
estimated PA obligations at which the proportion of administrative
costs relative to PA obligations could justify that a prospective
minimum threshold be set at that amount. Based on FEMA's analysis of
available information across all PA disasters in the past ten years,
there is no specific size of PA disaster at which point administrative
costs exceed the amount of PA assistance, or where excessive
administrative costs essentially renders such PA assistance ineffectual
from a Federal cost standpoint.
    FEMA considered the following two alternatives that would have a
smaller impact on small entities.
(a) No Regulatory Action
    FEMA considered not proposing the minimum threshold and per capita
indicator regulatory changes in this proposed rule. FEMA rejected this
alternative because section 1239 of the DRRA directs FEMA to review the
factors it considers when evaluating a request for a major disaster
declaration, specifically the estimated cost of assistance factor, and
to initiate rulemaking to update the declaration factors. Additionally,
the lack of increases to the per capita indicator from 1986 to 1999
undercuts the value of this factor as an indicator of State capacity
given the increases in inflation during that time. For the minimum
threshold, the lack of an increase since 1999 has prevented this factor
from keeping pace with inflation, and rising State budgets and
resources. By not proposing the per capita indicator and minimum
threshold regulatory changes in the proposed rule, FEMA would be
relying upon per capita indicator and minimum threshold factors that
are no longer adequate measures of a State's capability to respond to
and recover from a disaster. The no regulatory action alternative would
result in a greater likelihood that the President declares major
disaster declarations for relatively small incidents that a more
accurate assessment would find is within a State's financial
capabilities to respond to on its own.
(b) Population Alternative
    FEMA considered continuing to use the US Census Bureau's decennial
census population estimates instead of the proposed PEP annual
estimates. FEMA found that using the decennial populations instead of
the PEP annual estimates would have resulted in a reduction of 148 PA
disasters from

2008-2017, an average of 15 per year. This is a difference of 10
disasters from when FEMA used the proposed PEP annual populations in
the analysis. This difference was a result of the States having a
higher population with the PEP annual population estimates compared to
the decennial population, and therefore a higher State COA indicator.
    FEMA rejected this alternative because FEMA's reliance on
population data from the most recent decennial survey can lead to an
imprecise assessment of a State's capabilities to respond to and
recover from a disaster on its own. Decennial population data can lead
to an inaccurate per capita indicator for States experiencing rapid
changes in population. This could result in a greater likelihood that
the President declares major disaster declarations for relatively small
incidents that are within a State's financial capabilities to respond
to on its own after it has experienced rapid population growth, or,
conversely, a likelihood that the President does not declare major
disaster declarations for incidents that may actually exceed a State's
capabilities to respond to on its own where that State's population has
rapidly decreased.
    More detailed information on the alternatives can be found in
Section 15 of the stand-alone RIA found in the docket of this
rulemaking.
7. Conclusion
    FEMA is interested in the potential impacts of the proposed rule on
small entities and requests public comment on these potential impacts.
If you think that this rule will have a significant economic impact on
you, your business, or your organization, please submit a comment to
the docket at the address under ADDRESSES in the rule. In your comment,
explain why, how, and to what degree you think this rule will have an
economic impact on you. FEMA is also interested in less burdensome
alternatives for small entities. If you know of less burdensome
alternatives, please include them in your comment.

C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    Pursuant to Section 201 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(Pub. L. 104-4, 2 U.S.C. 1531), each Federal agency ``shall, unless
otherwise prohibited by law, assess the effects of Federal regulatory
actions on State, local, and tribal governments, and the private sector
(other than to the extent that such regulations incorporate
requirements specifically set forth in law).'' Section 202 of the Act
(2 U.S.C. 1532) further requires that ``before promulgating any general
notice of proposed rulemaking that is likely to result in the
promulgation of any rule that includes any Federal mandate that may
result in expenditure by State, local, and tribal governments, in the
aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 million or more (adjusted
annually for inflation) in any one year, and before promulgating any
final rule for which a general notice of proposed rulemaking was
published, the agency shall prepare a written statement'' detailing the
effect on State, local, and tribal governments and the private sector.
FEMA has determined that this proposed rule can be excluded from this
assessment as the proposed rule meets the criteria set forth in 2
U.S.C. 1503(4), which states, ``This chapter shall not apply to . . .
any provision in a proposed or final Federal regulation that-- . . .
(4) provides for emergency assistance or relief at the request of any
State, local, or tribal government or any official of a State, local,
or tribal government.'' Therefore, no actions are deemed necessary
under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995.

D. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)

    Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as
amended, 42 U.S.C. 42 U.S.C. 4321 et. seq., an agency must prepare an
environmental assessment or environmental impact statement for any
rulemaking that significantly affects the quality of the human
environment. FEMA has determined that this rulemaking does not
significantly affect the quality of the human environment and
consequently has not prepared an environmental assessment or
environmental impact statement.
    Rulemaking is a major Federal action subject to NEPA. Categorical
exclusion A3 included in the list of exclusion categories at Department
of Homeland Security Instruction Manual 023-01-001-01, Revision 01,
Implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act, Appendix A,
issued November 6, 2014, covers the promulgation of rules, issuance of
rulings or interpretations, and the development and publication of
policies, orders, directives, notices, procedures, manuals, and
advisory circulars if they meet certain criteria provided in A3(a-f).
This proposed rule amends an existing regulation without changing its
environmental effect, which meets Categorical Exclusion A3(d). This
proposed rule is a narrowly crafted revision to FEMA's existing
regulations updating the criteria that FEMA considers when recommending
an area eligible for PA under a major disaster declaration. The
proposed rule is not part of any larger regulatory action. Further,
there are no extraordinary circumstances present that would create the
potential for a significant environmental impact. Therefore, each of
the conditions for application of categorical exclusion A3(d) is
satisfied, and this action is categorically excluded from further NEPA
review.
    Because no other extraordinary circumstances have been identified,
this rule does not require the preparation of either an EA or an EIS as
defined by NEPA. See Department of Homeland Security Instruction Manual
023-01-001-01, Revision 01, Implementation of the National
Environmental Policy Act, section (V)(B)(2).

E. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, as amended, 44 U.S.C.
3501-3520, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the agency
obtains approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the
collection and the collection displays a valid OMB control number. See
44 U.S.C. 3506, 3507. This rulemaking contains a collection of
information, as defined by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, as
amended, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520. This action contains proposed amendments
to the existing information collection requirements previously approved
under OMB Control Number 1660-0009 and 1660-0017. As required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FEMA has submitted these proposed
collection amendments to OMB for its review.

Collection of Information Number 1660-0009

    Title: The Declaration Process: Requests for Preliminary Damage
Assessment (PDA), Requests for Supplemental Federal Disaster
Assistance, Appeals, and Requests for Cost Share Adjustments.
    OMB Control Number: 1660-0009.
    Type of information collection: Revision of a currently approved
collection.
    Form Numbers: FEMA Forms 010-0-13 and 009-0-140 (used by FEMA
personnel or contractors only).
    Summary of the Collection of Information: When a disaster occurs in
a State, the Governor of the State or the Acting Governor in his/her
absence, may request a major disaster declaration or an emergency
declaration using FEMA Form 010-0-13. The information obtained by joint
Federal, State, and

local preliminary damage assessments is analyzed by FEMA regional
senior level staff. The regional summary and the regional analysis and
recommendation will include a discussion of State and local resources
and capabilities, and other assistance available to meet the disaster
related needs. The Administrator of FEMA provides a recommendation and
a copy of the Governor's request to the President. In the event the
information required by law is not contained in the request, the
Governor's request cannot be processed and forwarded to the White
House.
    Need for Information: The Stafford Act requires that all requests
for a major disaster or emergency declaration be made by the Governor
of the affected State or the Chief Executive of an affected Indian
tribal government. Section 401(a) of the Stafford Act stipulates that
such a request shall be based on a finding that the disaster is of such
severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the
capabilities of the State and the affected local government, and that
Federal assistance is necessary. Section 401(a) further stipulates that
as a part of such request, and as a prerequisite to major disaster
assistance under the Stafford Act, the Governor shall take appropriate
response action under State law and direct the execution of the State's
emergency plan and shall furnish specific information that must be
included in a request for a major disaster declaration. Section 401(a)
stipulates that the request must include specific information on the
nature and amount of State and local resources which have been or will
be committed to alleviate the results of the disaster. Section 501(a)
requires the same information to be provided in requests for
declarations of an emergency.
    Use of Information: This collection includes FEMA Form 010-0-13,
Request for Presidential Disaster Declaration Major Disaster or
Emergency, which asks for the same data that were stated and required
in the previous narrative Governor's requests to the President
requesting supplemental Federal assistance, through the appropriate
Regional Administrator, combined with the findings of a joint FEMA,
State and local Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA). The PDA is
analyzed and provides the basis for a Regional Summary, Analysis, and
Recommendation, which is submitted to the Assistant Administrator of
the Disaster Assistance Directorate. The information is reviewed and
evaluated, and the Administrator formulates a recommendation which is
submitted to the President for consideration of a disaster or emergency
declaration. The FEMA form eliminates the need for follow-up
communications and reporting during a declaration request.
    Description of the Respondents: State, local, or Tribal government.
    Number of Respondents: The current OMB-approved number of
respondents is 623 per year. The proposed rulemaking would not impact
the number of respondents.
    Number of Responses: FEMA estimates the number of responses would
be 340 per year. This is a decrease of 16 responses from the OMB-
approved number of responses of 356 per year.
    Burden of Response: For each response, FEMA estimates it takes 9
hours to complete FEMA Form 010-0-13. In addition, FEMA estimates it
takes 24.126 hours to gather information for the FEMA Form 010-0-13.
The total burden for each response is 33.126 hours
    Estimate of Total Annual Burden: The previously approved total
annual burden was 11,792.8 hours. FEMA estimates that the number of
responses would decrease by 16 per year. At 33.126 hours per response,
the reduced burden for submitting the responses would be 530 hours
(rounded). Based on the proposed rule's decrease in burden, the new
estimated total annual burden is 11,262.8 hours.

Collection of Information Number 1660-0017

    Title: Public Assistance Program,
    OMB Control Number: 1660-0017,
    Type of information collection: Revision of a currently approved
collection.
    Form Numbers: FEMA Forms 009-0-49, 009-0-91, 009-0-91A, 009-0-91B,
009-0-91C, 009-0-91D, 009-0-111, 009-0-120, 009-0-121, 009-0-123, 009-
0-124, 009-0-125, 009-0-126, 009-0-127, 009-0-128, 055-0-0-1, and 009-
0-141.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: The Stafford Act
authorizes grants to assist State, tribal, and local governments and
certain Private Non-Profit entities with the response to and recovery
from disasters following Presidentially declared major disasters and
emergencies.
    Need for Information: The information collected is required for the
PA program eligibility determinations, grants management, and
compliance with other Federal laws and regulations. Title 44 CFR part
206 specifies the information collections necessary to facilitate the
provision of assistance under the PA program.
    Use of Information: The information collected is utilized by FEMA
to make determinations for PA grants based on the information supplied
by the respondents.
    Description of Respondents: State, local, or tribal government.
    Number of Respondents: The current OMB-approved number of
respondents is 56 per year for FEMA Forms 009-0-49, 009-0-91, 009-0-
91A, 009-0-91B, 009-0-91C, 009-0-91D, 009-0-111, 009-0-120, 009-0-121,
009-0-123, 009-0-124, 009-0-125, 009-0-126, 009-0-127, 009-0-128, 009-
0-141, State Administrative Plan and State Plan Amendments (no form),
and Request for Appeals and Recommendation (no form); and 4 per year
for Requests for Arbitration and Recommendation resulting from
Hurricanes Katrina or Rita (no form). FEMA estimates the number of
respondents would be 40 per year, a decrease of 16 respondents from the
OMB-approved number of responses of 56 per year, for FEMA Forms 009-0-
49, 009-0-91, 009-0-91A, 009-0-91B, 009-0-91C, 009-0-91D, 009-0-120,
009-0-121, 009-0-123, 009-0-124, 009-0-125, 009-0-126, 009-0-127, 009-
0-128, and 009-0-141. The number of respondents would not change for
FEMA Form 009-0-111, State Administrative Plan and State Plan
Amendments (no form), Request for Appeals and Recommendation (no form),
and Requests for Arbitration and Recommendation resulting from
Hurricanes Katrina or Rita (no form).
    Number of Responses: The number of responses per respondent varies
by form (see Table 9). The number of responses per respondent (form)
would not change due to the proposed rule. The decrease in the number
of respondents for certain forms would result in a decrease in the
total annual responses. FEMA estimates the total annual number of
responses would be 284,564 per year. This is a decrease of 113,504
responses from the OMB-approved number of responses of 398,068 per
year.

                               Table 9--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours by Form
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                Average hourly
       Form name/form No.           Respondents    Responses per   Total annual      burden per    Total hourly
                                                    respondent       responses       response      annual burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEMA Form 009-0-49, Request for               40             129           5,160            0.25           1,290
 Public Assistance..............
FEMA Form 009-0-91, Project                   40             840          33,600             1.5          50,400
 Worksheet (PW) and a Request
 for Time Extension.............
FEMA Form 009-0-91A Project Work              40             784          31,360             1.5          47,040
 Sheet (PW) Damage Description
 and Scope of Work..............
FEMA Form 009-0-91B, Project                  40             784          31,360          1.3333          41,813
 Worksheet (PW) Cost Estimate
 Continuation Sheet and Request
 for additional funding for Cost
 Overruns.......................
FEMA Form 009-0-91C Project                   40             728          29,120             1.5          43,680
 Worksheet (PW) Maps and
 Sketches Sheet.................
FEMA Form 009-0-91D Project                   40             728          29,120             1.5          43,680
 Worksheet (PW) Photo Sheet.....
FEMA Form 009-0-120, Special                  40             840          33,600             0.5          16,800
 Considerations Questions.......
FEMA Form 009-0-128, Applicant's              40             784          31,360             0.5          15,680
 Benefits Calculation Worksheet.
FEMA Form 009-0-121, PNP                      40              94           3,760             0.5           1,880
 Facility Questionnaire.........
FEMA Form 009-0-123, Force                    40              94           3,760             0.5           1,880
 Account Labor Summary Record...
FEMA Form 009-0-124, Materials                40              94           3,760            0.25             940
 Summary Record.................
FEMA Form 009-0-125, Rented                   40              94           3,760             0.5           1,880
 Equipment Summary Record.......
FEMA Form 009-0-126, Contract                 40              94           3,760             0.5           1,880
 Work Summary Record............
FEMA Form 009-0-127, Force                    40              94           3,760            0.25             940
 Account Equipment Summary
 Record.........................
State Administrative Plan and                 56               1              56               8             448
 State Plan Amendments/No Form..
FEMA Form 009-0-111, Quarterly                56               4             224             100          22,400
 Progress Report................
Request for Appeals &                         56               9             504               3           1,512
 Recommendation/No Forms........
Request for Arbitration &                      4               5              20               3              60
 Recommendation resulting from
 Hurricanes Katrina or Rita/No
 Form...........................
FEMA Form 009-0-141, FAC-TRAX                 40             913          36,520            1.25          45,650
 System.........................
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................  ..............  ..............         284,564        126.3333         339,853
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Burden of Response: The burden per response varies by form (see
Table 9). The total burden per response varies by respondent, with a
maximum burden per respondent of 126.3333 hours if a respondent
completes every form and those items without forms. The burden per
response would not change due to this rulemaking.
    Estimate of Total Annual Burden: The previously approved total
annual burden was 466,025 hours. FEMA estimates that the number of
respondents would decrease by 16 per year for FEMA Forms 009-0-49, 009-
0-91, 009-0-91A, 009-0-91B, 009-0-91C, 009-0-91D, 009-0-120, 009-0-121,
009-0-123, 009-0-124, 009-0-125, 009-0-126, 009-0-127, 009-0-128, and
009-0-141. Table 9 shows the resultant change in the total annual
burden by form. Based on the proposed rule's decrease in burden, the
new estimated total annual burden is 339,853 hours. This is a reduction
of 126,172 hours per year.

                                Table 9--Itemized Changes in Annual Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Program change
                                                                      (burden     Program change
               Data collection activity/instrument                 currently on        (new)        Difference
                                                                  OMB Inventory)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEMA Form 009-0-49, Request for Public Assistance...............           1,806           1,290            -516
FEMA Form 009-0-91, Project Worksheet (PW) and a Request for              70,560          50,400         -20,160
 Time Extension.................................................
FEMA Form 009-0-91A Project Work Sheet (PW) Damage Description            65,856          47,040         -18,816
 and Scope of Work..............................................
FEMA Form 009-0-91B, Project Worksheet (PW) Cost Estimate                 58,537          41,813         -16,724
 Continuation Sheet and Request for additional funding for Cost
 Overruns.......................................................
FEMA Form 009-0-91C Project Worksheet (PW) Maps and Sketches              61,152          43,680         -17,472
 Sheet..........................................................
FEMA Form 009-0-91D Project Worksheet (PW) Photo Sheet..........          61,152          43,680         -17,472
FEMA Form 009-0-120, Special Considerations Questions...........          23,520          16,800          -6,720
FEMA Form 009-0-128, Applicant's Benefits Calculation Worksheet.          21,952          15,680          -6,272
FEMA Form 009-0-121, PNP Facility Questionnaire.................           2,632           1,880            -752
FEMA Form 009-0-123, Force Account Labor Summary Record.........           2,632           1,880            -752
FEMA Form 009-0-124, Materials Summary Record...................           1,316             940          -376.0
FEMA Form 009-0-125, Rented Equipment Summary Record............           2,632           1,880            -752

FEMA Form 009-0-126, Contract Work Summary Record...............           2,632           1,880            -752
FEMA Form 009-0-127, Force Account Equipment Summary Record.....           1,316             940            -376
State Administrative Plan and State Plan Amendments/No Form.....             448             448               0
FEMA Form 009-0-111, Quarterly Progress Report..................          22,400          22,400               0
Request for Appeals & Recommendation/No Forms...................           1,512           1,512               0
Request for Arbitration & Recommendation resulting from                       60              60               0
 Hurricanes Katrina or Rita/No Form.............................
FEMA Form 009-0-141, FAC-TRAX System............................          63,910          45,650         -18,260
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................         466,025         339,853        -126,172
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As required by 44 U.S.C. 3507(d), FEMA will submit a copy of the
proposed rule to OMB for its review of the collection of information.
    FEMA asks for public comment on the proposed collection of
information to help determine how useful the information is, whether it
can help FEMA perform its functions better, whether it is readily
available elsewhere, how accurate the estimate of the burden of
collection is, how valid the methods for determining burden are, how
FEMA can improve the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the
information, and how FEMA can minimize the burden of collection.
    If you submit comments on the collection of information, submit
them both to OMB and to the Docket Management Facility, where indicated
under the ADDRESSES section of the proposed rule, by the date given
under the DATES section.
    You are not required to respond to a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid control number from OMB. Before
FEMA could enforce the collection of information requirements in this
proposed rule, OMB would need to approve FEMA's request to collect this
information.

F. Privacy Act/E-Government Act

    Under the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, an agency must
determine whether implementation of a proposed regulation will result
in a system of records. A ``record'' is any item, collection, or
grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by an
agency, including, but not limited to, his/her education, financial
transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and
that contains his/her name, or the identifying number, symbol, or other
identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a finger or
voice print or a photograph. See 5 U.S.C. 552a(a)(4). A ``system of
records'' is a group of records under the control of an agency from
which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some
identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to
the individual. An agency cannot disclose any record which is contained
in a system of records except by following specific procedures.
    The E-Government Act of 2002, 44 U.S.C. 3501 note, also requires
specific procedures when an agency takes action to develop or procure
information technology that collects, maintains, or disseminates
information that is in an identifiable form. This Act also applies when
an agency initiates a new collection of information that will be
collected, maintained, or disseminated using information technology if
it includes any information in an identifiable form permitting the
physical or online contacting of a specific individual.
    A Privacy Threshold Analysis for this proposed rule was approved on
May 23, 2019. Any information will be collected in existing FEMA Form
010-0-13, and will still only include the Governor's point of contact
and general office phone number as well as other State specific and
disaster specific information of a non-personally[hyphen]identifiable
nature. The information received through the form is neither retrieved
nor retrievable by personally identifiable information (PII). Any
retrieval would be done by utilizing State specific or disaster
specific information of a non[hyphen]identifiable nature. This form and
its contents are covered by a System of Records Notice, DHS/FEMA/PIA-
013 Grant Management Programs and notice is provided by the DHS/FEMA-
009 Hazard Mitigation Disaster Public Assistance and Disaster Loan
Programs SORN. This rulemaking does not impact FEMA's collection of PII
in the disaster declarations process and form and no Privacy Impact
Assessment or System of Records Notice is required at this time.

G. Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination With Indian
Tribal Governments

    Executive Order 13175, ``Consultation and Coordination with Indian
Tribal Governments,'' 65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000, applies to agency
regulations that have Tribal implications, that is, regulations that
have substantial direct effects on one or more Indian tribes, on the
relationship between the Federal Government and Indian Tribes, or on
the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal
Government and Indian Tribes. Under this Executive order, to the extent
practicable and permitted by law, no agency shall promulgate any
regulation that has Tribal implications, that imposes substantial
direct compliance costs on Indian Tribal governments, and that is not
required by statute, unless funds necessary to pay the direct costs
incurred by the Indian Tribal government or the Tribe in complying with
the regulation are provided by the Federal Government, or the agency
consults with Tribal officials.
    FEMA has reviewed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13175
and believes that this proposed rule would not have a substantial
direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between
the Federal Government and Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of
power and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian
Tribes. The Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 requires the
President when issuing regulations to ``consider the unique conditions
that affect the general welfare of Indian tribal governments.'' To this
end, FEMA, in coordination

with DHS, OMB and several tribes and tribal organizations, decided to
develop the Tribal Declarations Pilot Guidance. The guidance underwent
extensive and exhaustive tribal consultation for over 3 years, which
included over 150 listening sessions across the country and the
adjudication of over 2,000 comments. Under the Tribal Declarations
Pilot Guidance, FEMA established separate factors for evaluating tribal
governments' requests. These factors include (but are not limited to) a
lower minimum damage amount for Public Assistance ($250,000) and the
elimination of a per capita damage amount. These factors reflect the
Agency's acknowledgement that tribal nations have different needs and
capabilities than states. The factors listed in the Tribal Declarations
Pilot Guidance will not be altered by this proposed rule, as the
proposed rule only applies to States and Territories. Additionally, as
noted in the RIA, Tribal applicants and subapplicants would have
received $10.74 million less in PA funding between 2008 and 2017 had
the proposed rule been in effect. However, $9 million of that funding
would have been potentially available for some of those Tribal
governments had they requested a major disaster declaration under the
Tribal Declarations Pilot Guidance because those Tribal governments
received more than $250,000 in PA assistance. Therefore, it is possible
more Tribal governments may request disaster declarations through the
Tribal Declarations Pilot Guidance as a result of the proposed rule.
However, as discussed in the RIA, there are many other factors that
affect whether a Tribal government requests a declaration through the
Tribal Declarations Pilot Guidance.
    The remaining $1.74 million of PA funding that Tribal governments
would likely not have received resulted in an average of $36,192 per
project for each of the 44 Tribal governments across the 29 disasters
analyzed. While FEMA appreciates that some Tribal governments have
limited financial capabilities, FEMA believes most Tribal governments
could handle such costs in responding to an event on their own.
Accordingly, FEMA does not believe that consultation under Executive
Order 13175 is necessary; however, FEMA welcomes comments on the
potential impacts of the proposed rule on Tribal governments.
Additionally, in accordance with the requirement in section 1239 of the
DRRA that FEMA meaningfully consult with State, local and Tribal
governments, FEMA will conduct additional outreach with Tribal
government stakeholders as well as representatives of State, regional
and local governments.

H. Executive Order 13132, Federalism

    Executive Order 13132, ``Federalism,'' 64 FR 43255, August 10,
1999, sets forth principles and criteria that agencies must adhere to
in formulating and implementing policies that have federalism
implications, that is, regulations that have ``substantial direct
effects on the States, on the relationship between the national
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various levels of government.'' Federal
agencies must closely examine the statutory authority supporting any
action that would limit the policymaking discretion of the States, and
to the extent practicable, must consult with State and local officials
before implementing any such action.
    FEMA has reviewed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13132
believes that this proposed rule would not have substantial direct
effects on the States, on the relationship between the National
Government and the States, on the distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various levels of government, or on the
policymaking discretion of the States, and therefore does not have
federalism implications as defined by the Executive order. The proposed
rule substantively affects one of several factors that FEMA considers
when determining whether to recommend that the President declare that a
major disaster has occurred on the basis of a governor's request that
such a declaration be made. Importantly, FEMA considers all of the
factors in making a decision on a recommendation, as each disaster
request involves circumstances unique to that disaster event, the
State, and affected communities. Moreover, FEMA's recommendation to the
President does not obligate the President to agree with FEMA's
recommendation. Rather, the President may declare or not declare a
disaster on their own accord. Furthermore, the proposed rule does not
affect a State's ability or choice to request such a declaration, since
disaster declaration requests are voluntary, and States choose whether
or not to request Federal assistance. While FEMA hopes that the
proposed rule will encourage States to invest more in mitigating future
disasters and their consequences, such funding decisions are ultimately
left to the States' discretion. Accordingly, the proposed rule does not
have federalism implications as defined by the Executive order.
    However, FEMA welcomes comments on the proposed rule's potential
impacts on States and territories, and their relationships with the
Federal Government. Additionally, in accordance with the requirement in
section 1239 of the DRRA that FEMA meaningfully consult with State,
local and Tribal governments, FEMA will conduct additional outreach
with representatives of State, regional and local governments.

I. Executive Order 11988, Floodplain Management, as amended

    Pursuant to Executive Order 11988, each agency is required to
provide leadership and take action to reduce the risk of flood loss, to
minimize the impact of floods on human safety, health and welfare, and
to restore and preserve the natural and beneficial values served by
floodplains in carrying out its responsibilities for (1) acquiring,
managing, and disposing of Federal lands and facilities; (2) providing
Federally undertaken, financed, or assisted construction and
improvements; and (3) conducting Federal activities and programs
affecting land use, including but not limited to water and related land
resources planning, regulating, and licensing activities. In carrying
out these responsibilities, each agency must evaluate the potential
effects of any actions it may take in a floodplain; to ensure that its
planning programs and budget requests reflect consideration of flood
hazards and floodplain management; and to prescribe procedures to
implement the policies and requirements of the Executive order.
    Before promulgating any regulation, an agency must determine
whether the proposed regulations will affect a floodplain(s), and if
so, the agency must consider alternatives to avoid adverse effects and
incompatible development in the floodplain(s). If the head of the
agency finds that the only practicable alternative consistent with the
law and with the policy set forth in Executive Order 11988 is to
promulgate a regulation that affects a floodplain(s), the agency must,
prior to promulgating the regulation, design or modify the regulation
in order to minimize potential harm to or within the floodplain,
consistent with the agency's floodplain management regulations and
prepare and circulate a notice containing an explanation of why the
action is proposed to be located in the floodplain.
    The requirements of Executive Order 11988 apply in the context of
the provision of Federal financial assistance

relating to, among other things, construction and property improvement
activities, as well as conducting Federal programs affecting a
floodplain(s). The changes proposed in this rule would not have an
effect on floodplain management. This proposed rule revises the
criteria that FEMA considers when recommending a State eligible for PA
under a major disaster declaration. A major disaster declaration
recommendation to the President is an administrative action for FEMA's
PA program. When FEMA undertakes specific actions in administering PA
that may have effects on floodplain management, FEMA follows the
procedures set forth in 44 CFR part 9 to assure compliance with this
Executive order. This serves as the notice that is required by the
E.O..

J. Executive Order 11990, Protection of Wetlands

    Pursuant to Executive Order 11990, each agency must provide
leadership and take action to minimize the destruction, loss or
degradation of wetlands, and to preserve and enhance the natural and
beneficial values of wetlands in carrying out the agency's
responsibilities for (1) acquiring, managing, and disposing of Federal
lands and facilities; and (2) providing Federally undertaken, financed,
or assisted construction and improvements; and (3) conducting Federal
activities and programs affecting land use, including but not limited
to water and related land resources planning, regulating, and licensing
activities. Each agency, to the extent permitted by law, must avoid
undertaking or providing assistance for new construction located in
wetlands unless the head of the agency finds (1) that there is no
practicable alternative to such construction, and (2) that the proposed
action includes all practicable measures to minimize harm to wetlands
which may result from such use. In making this finding the head of the
agency may take into account economic, environmental and other
pertinent factors.
    In carrying out the activities described in the Executive order,
each agency must consider factors relevant to a proposal's effect on
the survival and quality of the wetlands. Among these factors are:
Public health, safety, and welfare, including water supply, quality,
recharge and discharge; pollution; flood and storm hazards; and
sediment and erosion; maintenance of natural systems, including
conservation and long term productivity of existing flora and fauna,
species and habitat diversity and stability, hydrologic utility, fish,
wildlife, timber, and food and fiber resources; and other uses of
wetlands in the public interest, including recreational, scientific,
and cultural uses.
    The requirements of Executive Order 11990 apply in the context of
the provision of Federal financial assistance relating to, among other
things, construction and property improvement activities, as well as
conducting Federal programs affecting land use. The changes proposed in
this rule would not have an effect on land use or wetlands. This
proposed rule revises the criteria that FEMA considers when
recommending a State eligible for PA under a major disaster
declaration. A major disaster declaration recommendation to the
President is an administrative action for FEMA's PA program. When FEMA
undertakes specific actions in administering PA that may have such
effects, FEMA follows the procedures set forth in 44 CFR part 9 to
assure compliance with this Executive order.

K. Executive Order 12898, Environmental Justice

    Pursuant to Executive Order 12898, ``Federal Actions to Address
Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income
Populations,'' 59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994, as amended by Executive
Order 12948, 60 FR 6381, February 1, 1995, FEMA incorporates
environmental justice into its policies and programs. The Executive
order requires each Federal agency to conduct its programs, policies,
and activities that substantially affect human health or the
environment in a manner that ensures that those programs, policies, and
activities do not have the effect of excluding persons from
participation in programs, denying persons the benefits of programs, or
subjecting persons to discrimination because of race, color, or
national origin.
    This rulemaking will not have a disproportionately high or adverse
effect on minority or low-income populations. The proposed rule
substantively affects one of several factors that FEMA considers when
determining whether to recommend that the President declare that a
major disaster has occurred on the basis of a governor's request that
such a declaration be made for PA. FEMA's PA program provides
assistance to States, local governments, and private non-profits in
repairing, restoring, and replacing facilities damaged by disasters,
such as buildings, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. FEMA's
review of a governor's request for a major disaster declaration for PA
only considers the relevant factors as they pertain to a disaster's
impacts on those public or eligible private non-profit facilities
covered by the PA program. Accordingly, no action that FEMA can
anticipate under this rule will have a disproportionately high and
adverse human health or environmental effect on any segment of the
population.

L. Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary
Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities,'' OMB
Circular A-119

    ``Voluntary consensus standards'' are standards developed or
adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies, both domestic and
international. These standards include provisions requiring that owners
of relevant intellectual property have agreed to make that intellectual
property available on a non-discriminatory, royalty-free or reasonable
royalty basis to all interested parties. OMB Circular A-119 directs
agencies to use voluntary consensus standards in their regulatory
actions in lieu of government-unique standards except where
inconsistent with law or otherwise impractical. The policies in the
Circular are intended to reduce to a minimum the reliance by agencies
on government-unique standards.
    The proposed rule does not contain a ``standard'' as defined by OMB
Circular A-119. This proposed rule revises the criteria that FEMA
considers when recommending a State eligible for PA under a major
disaster declaration. A major disaster declaration recommendation to
the President is an administrative action for FEMA's PA program.
Accordingly, an analysis under OMB Circular A-119 is not required.

M. Congressional Review of Agency Rulemaking

    Under the Congressional Review of Agency Rulemaking Act (CRA), 5
U.S.C. 801-808, before a rule can take effect, the Federal agency
promulgating the rule must submit to Congress and to the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) a copy of the rule, a concise general
statement relating to the rule, including whether it is a major rule,
the proposed effective date of the rule, a copy of any cost-benefit
analysis; descriptions of the agency's actions under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act and the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, and any other
information or statements required by relevant Executive orders.
    FEMA will send this rule to the Congress and to GAO pursuant to the
CRA if the rule is finalized. The rule, as proposed, is a ``major
rule'' within the meaning of the CRA. It will have an

annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more, and may result in
a major increase in costs or prices for Federal, State, or local
government agencies. It will not have significant adverse effects on
competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or on
the ability of United States- based enterprises to compete with
foreign-based enterprises in domestic and export markets.

List of Subjects in 44 CFR Part 206

    Administrative practice and procedure, Coastal zone, Community
facilities, Disaster assistance, Fire prevention, Grant programs--
housing and community development, Housing, Insurance,
Intergovernmental relations, Loan programs--housing and community
development, Natural resources, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency proposes to amend 44 CFR part 206, subpart B, as
follows:

PART 206--FEDERAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE

0
1. The authority citation for part 206 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5121 through 5207; Homeland Security Act
of 2002, 6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.; Department of Homeland Security
Delegation 9001.1.

0
2. Revise Sec.  206.48 introductory text and paragraph (a) to read as
follows:

Sec.  206.48   Factors considered when evaluating a Governor's request
for a major disaster declaration.

    When FEMA reviews a Governor's request for major disaster
assistance under the Stafford Act, these are the primary factors in
making a recommendation to the President whether assistance is
warranted. FEMA considers other relevant information as well.
    (a) Public Assistance Program. FEMA evaluates the following factors
to evaluate the need for assistance under the Public Assistance
Program.
    (1) Estimated cost of the assistance. FEMA evaluates the estimated
cost of Federal and non-Federal public assistance against the statewide
population to give some measure of the per capita impact within the
State. FEMA uses a figure of $2.32 per capita as an indicator that the
disaster is of such size that it might warrant Federal assistance, and
will adjust this figure annually based on the Consumer Price Index for
all Urban Consumers. With the exception of the District of Columbia,
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and Guam, FEMA further
adjusts each State's per capita indicator according to each State's
Total Taxable Resources (TTR) as reported by the U.S. Department of
Treasury. FEMA is establishing a minimum threshold of $1.535 million in
public assistance damages per disaster in the belief that FEMA can
reasonably expect even the lowest population States to cover this level
of public assistance damage. FEMA will adjust this minimum threshold
annually based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers.
FEMA will publish the adjusted figures annually in the Federal
Register.
    (2) Localized impacts. FEMA evaluates the impact of the disaster at
the county and local government level, as well as impacts at the
American Indian and Alaskan Native Tribal Government levels, because at
times there are extraordinary concentrations of damages that might
warrant Federal assistance even if the statewide per capita is not met.
This is particularly true where critical facilities are involved or
where localized per capita impacts might be extremely high. For
example, FEMA has at times seen localized damages in the tens or even
hundreds of dollars per capita though the statewide per capita impact
was low.
    (3) Insurance coverage in force. FEMA considers the amount of
insurance coverage that is in force or should have been in force as
required by law and regulation at the time of the disaster, and reduces
the amount of anticipated assistance by that amount.
    (4) Hazard mitigation. To recognize and encourage mitigation, FEMA
considers the extent to which State and local government measures
contributed to the reduction of disaster damages for the disaster under
consideration. For example, if a State can demonstrate in its disaster
request that a Statewide building code or other mitigation measures are
likely to have reduced the damages from a particular disaster, FEMA
considers that in the evaluation of the request. This could be
especially significant in those disasters where, because of mitigation,
the estimated public assistance damages fell below the per capita
indicator.
    (5) Recent multiple disasters. FEMA looks at the disaster history
within the last 12-month period to better evaluate the overall impact
on the State or locality. FEMA considers declarations under the
Stafford Act as well as declarations by the Governor and the extent to
which the State has spent its own funds.
    (6) Programs of other Federal assistance. FEMA also considers
programs of other Federal agencies because at times their programs of
assistance might more appropriately meet the needs created by the
disaster.
* * * * *

Pete Gaynor,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2020-27094 Filed 12-11-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-23-P


Memo

To:	Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2013

From:	Joseph McDonald, U.S. EPA-OTAQ-ASD

CC:	Paul Machiele, Ed Nam, Michael Olechiw, U.S. EPA-OTAQ-ASD

Date:	September 3, 2013

Re:	 Takei, Y., Kungasa, Y., Okada, M., Tanaka, T. Fujimoto, Y. "Fuel
Property Requirement for Advanced Technology Engines." SAE Technical
Paper 2000-01-2019

A hard copy of the paper by Takei et al. entitled “Fuel Property
Requirement for Advanced Technology Engines” (SAE Technical Paper
2000-01-2019) is available within EPA’s Docket Center.

This document has been copyrighted and is not available within the
electronic docket.  Parties that wish to view a hard copy of this
document can do so at the at the EPA Docket Center:  Air and Radiation
Docket and Information Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301
Constitution Ave., NW, Washington DC.  The Public Reading Room is open
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays.  The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202)
566-1744, and the telephone number for the Air Docket is<PHONE_NUMBER>.

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