Emergency PRA Cover Letter - COVID-19 Attestation Form and Documentation for Non-paid employees

Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554

November 19, 2021
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
Ms. Sharon Block
Acting Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20503

Dear Ms. Block:
The Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) requests Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval to submit the information collection described herein
under the “emergency processing” provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 5
CFR 1320.13. The Commission is requesting clearance for a new information collection entitled
[3060-XXXX], Vaccination Attestation and Documentation, FCC Form 5644. For the reasons
explained below, We respectfully request OMB approval for this new information collection at
the earliest possible time.
Background
The information collection requirements to be reported under this new collection are the
result of requirements imposed by an Executive Order issued by President Biden regarding
mandatory COVID-19 vaccination among Federal employees.
On September 9, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14043 to protect the
health and safety of the Federal workforce and to promote the efficiency of the civil service.
Pursuant to the Executive Order and implementing guidance, the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) informed its workforce that, other than in limited circumstances where a
reasonable accommodation is legally required, all employees need to be fully vaccinated against
COVID-19 by November 22, 2021, regardless of where they are working.
To ensure compliance with this mandate, the FCC is requiring employees to complete
and submit an electronic form attesting to their current vaccination status. For some special
categories of individuals who perform (or will perform) work for the agency but are not
considered employees, however, the FCC is required to obtain OMB approval prior to collecting
such information. These include incoming employees, unpaid interns, unpaid legal fellows,
individuals performing work for the FCC pursuant to an Intergovernmental Personnel

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Agreement, participants in advisory committees, and possibly other similar classes of individuals
who are not on the FCC payroll but are performing work for the agency.
Request for Emergency Processing
Accordingly, as provided under 5 CFR § 1320.13, Emergency Processing, the FCC is
requesting emergency processing for the new collection of information as specified in the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and its implementing regulations. Specifically, the FCC
cannot reasonably comply with normal clearance procedures because the use of normal clearance
procedures is unlikely to be complete in time for the FCC to collect COVID-19 vaccine
attestation forms from these categories of “special” employees by the November 22 deadline,
and is thus likely to disrupt the collection of information necessary to ensure compliance with
Executive Order 14043. Moreover, if the Commission were to wait 120 days to formally notify
the public and potential interested parties of its intent to collect this information, then the
Commission’s ability to comply with this Government-wide mandate will be significantly
hindered.
Due to the emergency nature of this request, the Commission is also requesting a waiver
of the requirement to publish notice in the Federal Register. In addition to the reason provided
above, absent a waiver of such notice requirements, public harm may result due to the potential
impact on the FCC’s ability to fulfill its mission should these special classes of employees be
prohibited from working after November 22 pursuant to the terms of Executive Order 14043.
The Commission’s staff is ready to work with your PRA Desk Officer to immediately
provide any additional information needed to facilitate OMB’s approval of this emergency
request for this new information collection. Please have your PRA desk officer contact Nicole
Ongele at (202) 418-2991, or Nicole.ongele@fcc.gov, if there are any questions or any additional
information that may be needed.

Sincerely,
Mark
Stephens

Digitally signed by
Mark Stephens
Date: 2021.11.19
14:33:33 -05'00'

Mark Stephens
Managing Director

Enclosure

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