Public Safety Officers Medal of Valor
OMB No. 1121 - 0259
JUSTIFICATION:
1. Necessity of Information: On May 14, 2001, the United States Congress passed F1.R.802, the “Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Act,” which was later signed into Law on May 30, 2001. The Law states, “After September 1, 2001, the President may award, and present in the name of Congress, a Medal of Valor of appropriate design, with ribbons and appurtenances, to a public safety officer who is cited by the Attorney General, upon the recommendation of the Medal of Valor Review Board, for extraordinary valor above and beyond the call of duty. The Public Safety Medal of Valor shall be the highest national award for valor by a public safety officer.” Without the collection of this data, public safety officers laying their lives on the line to protect the lives of others may go unrecognized. It is important that this information is collected to acknowledge these brave men and women for their altruistic acts of valor.
2. Needs and Uses: The information collected on this application will provide the nomination of public safety officers for the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor award. This award will recognize public safety officers who demonstrate courage and bravery above and beyond the call of duty without regard for their personal safety. A Medal of Valor Board (hereinafter referred to as the “Board”), as required by the legislation, was appointed by the President, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the U.S. Senate, and the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Board shall select candidates as recipients of the Medal of Valor from among those applications received by the National Medal of Valor Office.
Not more often than once each year, the Board shall present to the Attorney General the name or names of those it recommends as Medal of Valor recipients.
Use of Technology: The application process is managed through the Internet, using
Office of Justice Programs’ Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor electronic
application system at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov//medalofvalor/welcome.html.
Prospective applicants can nominate candidate using this electronic
paperless system.
Efforts to Identify Duplication: This application will be used to nominate public safety officers solely for this award. The information collected is specific for this program Assistance.
Impact on Small Business: Information is collected only from state, local and tribal law enforcement governmental agencies. There is no impact on small businesses or other entities as they are not are eligible to apply.
Consequences of Less Frequent Collection: If this collection is not conducted, public safety officers whose life is at risk may go unrecognized for their exceptional valor, extraordinary decisiveness, presence of mind, and unusual swiftness of action, regardless of his or her own personal safety, in the attempt to save or protect human life.
7. Special Circumstances Influencing Collection:
This application/nomination is voluntary. Information is collected only if an agency decides to nominate a public safety officer for exceptional acts of bravery.
Applications/nominations will be used only for recognition of acts of valor accomplished during any given year.
c. Applicants/nominees do not need to submit multiple copies of this form.
d. The following requirements must be included with the application /nomination for recognition of accomplishments during any given year:
A copy of the completed application form.
ii. An official report or documentation from:
(a) an agency appointing authority, and
(b) the appointing authority of the submitting agency.
iii. Statements by witnesses or individuals having personal knowledge of the facts surrounding the act of valor and/or other supporting documentation.
e. This collection is not part of a statistical survey.
f. This collection does not require the use of statistical data.
g. According to statute, the Board shall not disclose any information which may compromise an ongoing law enforcement investigation or is otherwise required by law to be kept confidential.
The collection does not request proprietary information.
8. Federal Register Publication and Consultation: OJP has solicited public comments on the data collection per OMB specifications. The 60-day and 30 Day Federal Register Notices has been published to inform and solicit comments from the public. No comments were received.
Payment or Gifts to Respondents: Respondents nominating a public safety officer will not be compensated for this collection. However, this application will be used to recommend a public safety officer for recognition, therefore, an award could be presented to the nominee if the Board deems the act of valor worthy.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality: The OJP Medal of Valor Review Board
shall not disclose any information which may compromise an ongoing law
enforcement investigation or is otherwise required by law to be kept
confidential. OJP is compliant with 28CFR22 which protects confidentiality
of identifiable and statistical information and is committed to keeping a
system of records that is consistent with the regulations of the Privacy Act.
Justification for Sensitive Questions: This application/nomination does not
contain any questions of a sensitive nature.
12. Estimate of the Hour Burden: Annual Reporting Burden
Number of Respondents Approx 54
Number of responses per Respondent: 1-60.
Total annual responses 182 (estimated)
Hours per response 25 minutes
Total Annual Reporting Burden is 76 hours
The projected hours per response are based upon estimates provided by previous collections. This estimate includes reading the introduction to the application, choosing a nominee, answering any questions the respondent may have about the survey or items on it, and reading through the questions.
Total annual reporting hours is 76. This was derived by multiplying the number of responses 182 by the number of minutes expected to complete each survey 25. This total number of minutes 4550 was divided by 60 (number of minutes per hour) to obtain the total annual reporting hours.
13. Estimate of the Total Annual Cost Burden: There are no direct costs to the applicants other than time taken to complete and submit the voluntary application. Applicants are not requested to create and maintain an independent data collection, reporting systems, or travel. Consequently, the applicants incur no additional costs.
Estimates of Annualized Cost to the Federal Government:
The Medal of Valor Review Board is comprised of 11 members. The estimated annualized cost of the Federal government for the Board to review, compile, and process the 182 applications at 20 minutes per application is projected as follows; 182 applications x 20 minutes = 3640 minutes/60 minutes per hour = 60.66 hours, 60.66 x $39.41 per hour = $2390.61. The board is volunteer. There is no cost for there time to review applications.
15. Reason for Changes in Reporting Burden: This is an extension of a previously approved information collection.
Plans for Publication: Annually the Department of Justice issues a press
release requesting nominations for the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor, the highest national award for valor by a public safety officer. The United States’ President then awards the medal to five public safety officers (by statue) who have exhibited exceptional courage. Nominations are accepted between June 1 and May 31, of the following year, by completing an on line application at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov//medalofvalor/welcome.html.
Expiration Approval Date: The OMB Number and Expiration Date is
displayed on the application form.
Exceptions to the Certification Statement: OJP does not request an
exception to the certification of this information collection.
COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS
Statistical methods will not be used in this information collection.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Public Safety Officers Medal of Valor |
| Author | Presslem |
| Last Modified By | Lynn Bryant |
| File Modified | 2009-09-28 |
| File Created | 2009-09-28 |