View Information Collection Request (ICR) Package

OMB Control No: 3255-0005	ICR Reference No: 201907-3255-002
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201907-3255-001
Agency/Subagency: OSC	Agency Tracking No: OSC FORM-14
Title: FORM 14: ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF ALLEGATIONS AND DISCLOSURES
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Emergency	Approval Requested By: 07/31/2019
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 08/01/2019
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 07/23/2019
Terms of Clearance:

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	02/29/2020	6 Months From Approved	09/30/2020
Responses	6,000	0	6,000
Time Burden (Hours)	6,918	0	6,917
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: The previous version of this form was approved by OMB/OIRA to replace forms OSC-11, OSC-12, AND OSC-13, which were also previously approved by OMB. This updated electronic form will be used by current and former federal employees and applicants for federal employment, and other covered filers, to submit allegations of possible prohibited personnel practices or other prohibited activities for investigation and possible prosecution by OSC, or review and possible referral to relevant inspector general offices.

Emergency Justfication: OSC cannot reasonably comply with the normal clearance procedures under 5 CFR Part 1320 because of an unanticipated event. See 5 CFR 1320.13 (a)(2)(ii). The usual 90-day notice and publication schedule would harm OSC and the public because it would force OSC to postpone implementing the new Form 14 and integrating it with eCMS until after the new fiscal year begins October 1, 2019, and OSC does not have IT contracts sufficient to cover the eCMS implementation past September 30, 2019. See id. OSC’s IT contracts for eCMS implementation expire at the end of FY2019 because of unanticipated events in June and July 2019. This unforeseen exigency arose when the outside federal agency that provides OSC’s contracting and procurement services abruptly cancelled its agreement with OSC. (See attached email exchanges.) The other agency was in the process of extending and updating OSC’s contracts with the IT vendors managing the eCMS implementation when that agency unilaterally revoked its agreement with OSC. These circumstances were entirely beyond OSC’s control. Because the interagency contracting/procurement agreement has been suspended, the contracts with the IT vendors will now expire at the end of FY2019. That means the contracts with the vendors who are migrating OSC to eCMS and who manage transferring the data from the dynamic Form 14 into OSC’s eCMS are expiring on September 30, 2019. (OSC could not have anticipated this abrupt expiration; the process of converting to eCMS has taken years of contracts with various vendors.) Thus, OSC needs to implement Form 14 in August to allow adequate time for the contractors to address any IT issues that arise with eCMS implementation before the IT contract expires on September 30, 2019. Pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.13 (a)(2), OSC has determined that adherence to normal clearance procedures would result in public harm related to the inability of OSC to integrate Form 14 with the August 26th activation of OSC’s new electronic case management system, which aims to fulfill OSC’s Congressional mandate to operate an all-electronic record keeping system. If OSC complied with normal timing required for clearance procedures and PRA issuance, the updated Form 14 could not be timely integrated with the eCMS, OSC’s newly designed website, and other electronic record keeping systems. The normal process for clearance of the updated Form 14 would prevent the collection of information because a 60/30 day posting and comment schedule would postpone implementation beyond the August 26, 2019 “go live” date for the integrated eCMS system, thus preventing the integrated data collection essential to OSC’s fulfillment of its mission and statutory mandates. The usual 90-day notice and publication schedule would also harm the government and OSC by subjecting OSC to continued IT Security risk posed by its outdated “OSC 2000” system through which Forms 11, 12, and 13 (the forms Form 14 is replacing) are processed and accepted. The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA 2014) requires federal agencies to follow U.S. Department of Homeland Security information security policies mandating that agencies rapidly phase out legacy IT systems lacking updated and strong information security controls. OSC 2000 is woefully outdated, insecure, and inadequate because Microsoft no longer supports the antiquated operating system used to support OSC 2000, leaving the system highly vulnerable to security incidents. Please see attached letter with attachments for additional information.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 5 USC 1212 Name of Law: Powers and Functions of the Office of Special Counsel
US Code: 5 USC CFR 1800 Name of Law: Filing of Complaints and Allegations

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

Federal Register Notices & Comments
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate
Annual Number of Responses	6,000	6,000	12,000	-12,000
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	6,918	6,917	13,835	-13,834
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: updated electronic form will be used by current and former federal employees and applicants for federal employment, and other covered filers, to submit allegations of possible prohibited personnel practices or other prohibited activities for investigation and possible prosecution by OSC, or review and possible referral to relevant inspector general offices.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $0

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. Yes

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. Yes

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

Agency Contact: Mahala Dar 202 804-7056 mdar@osc.gov

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