[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 146 (Tuesday, August 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41855-41857]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16507]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Docket ID: FEMA-2021-0016; OMB No. 1660-0086]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request; National Flood Insurance Program--Mortgage Portfolio 
Protection Program (MPPP); Ask the Advocate Web Form

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland 
Security.

ACTION: 30-Day notice of revision and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites 
the general public to take this opportunity to comment on a revision of 
a previously approved information collection for which approval has 
expired. FEMA will submit the information collection abstracted below 
to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice seeks 
comments concerning an amendment to a currently-approved collection of 
information related to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), 
Mortgage Portfolio Protection Program (MPPP), which is an option that 
companies participating in the National Flood Insurance Program can use 
to bring their mortgage loan portfolios into compliance with the flood 
insurance purchase requirements. This amended notice seeks comments 
concerning the collection of information related to the Office of the 
Flood Insurance Advocate (OFIA).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 2, 2021.

[[Page 41856]]


ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    For information related to the NFIP Mortgage Portfolio Protection 
Program (MPPP), contact Kelly Bronowicz, Industry Management Branch 
Chief, FIMA, FEMA, at 202-557-9488, or Kelly.Bronowicz@fema.dhs.gov.
    For information related to the Ask the Advocate web form, contact 
Joe Cecil, Advocate Representative Team Lead, Office of the Flood 
Insurance Advocate, FIMA, FEMA, at 202-701-3465, or 
Joseph.Cecil@fema.dhs.gov.
    Requests for additional information or copies of the information 
collection should be made to the Forms & Information Collections 
Manager, Information Management Division, 500 C Street SW, Washington, 
DC 20472, email address FEMA-Information-Collections-Management@fema.dhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pertaining to the MPPP, federal lenders and 
Federally-regulated or sponsored lending institutions may not make, 
increase, extend, or renew any loan secured by improved real property 
located in a special flood hazard area (SFHA) unless the building and 
any personal property securing the loan is covered by flood insurance 
for the life of the loan. See Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 
(FDPA) Sec.  102 (Pub. L. 93-234; 42 U.S.C. 4012a). The FEMA 
Administrator carries out the NFIP to enable interested persons to 
purchase insurance against loss resulting from physical damage to or 
loss of real or personal property arising from flood in the United 
States. See National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (NFIA) (Pub. L. 90-
448, title XIII; 42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.).
    In general, individual mortgagees subject to the requirements of 
the FDPA obtain and maintain flood insurance for their individual 
properties. When individual mortgagees to not obtain required flood 
insurance, the NFIP's Mortgage Portfolio Protection program (MPPP) 
allows covered lenders to ensure compliance with the requirements of 
FDPA by selling making available special coverage for the lender's 
entire mortgage portfolio. See 44 CFR 62.23(l). In order sell MPPP 
policies, private insurance companies participating in the NFIP's Write 
Your Own (WYO) Program must apply for and annually renew their election 
to voluntarily participate in the MPPP.
    This proposed information collection previously published in the 
Federal Register on May 25, 2021, at 86 FR 28122 with a 60-day public 
comment period. No comments were received. This information collection 
expires on December 31, 2021. FEMA is requesting a revision of this 
currently approved collection. The purpose of this notice is to notify 
the public that FEMA will submit the information collection abstracted 
below to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance.
    Pertaining to the Ask the Advocate Web Form, Section 24 of the 
Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 (42 U.S.C. 4033), 
Public Law 113-89, 128 Stat. 1030, requires FEMA to designate a Flood 
Insurance Advocate that would advocate for the fair treatment of NFIP 
policyholders and property owners by: (1) Providing education and 
guidance on all aspects of the NFIP, (2) identifying trends affecting 
the public, and (3) making recommendations for NFIP program 
improvements to FEMA leadership. Pursuant to this authority, FEMA 
established the Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate (OFIA) on 
December 22, 2014.
    Members of the public regularly contact OFIA seeking assistance on 
the NFIP. OFIA seeks to facilitate the timely and effective management 
of these inquiries by creating a web form on OFIA's web page at https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance/advocate. The web form will allow users 
to provide information that includes all the data necessary for OFIA to 
perform its Congressionally-mandated duties and responsibilities.
    Consumers who submit an inquiry to OFIA will be required to fill-
out ten (10) informational fields on the Ask the Advocate web form. 
These fields include: (1) First name, (2) Last name, (3) Email address, 
(4) Confirm email address, (5) How did you hear of Advocate's office 
(pull-down list), (6) Contact role (list field), (7) State (pull-down 
list), (8) ZIP code, (9) Subject (of inquiry) and (10) Questions/
Comment (regarding inquiry). An eleventh (11th) field is a security 
CAPTCHA field intended to distinguish human from machine input as a way 
of thwarting spam and automated extraction of data from websites.
    When a consumer submits this information, the data will be 
collected and stored on OFIA's Department of Homeland Security/FEMA-
approved Customer Relationship Management cloud-based environment 
hosted by Salesforce.
    Once OFIA receives this information, the inquiry will be assigned a 
system-generated ``Case number'', and then the case is then assigned to 
an OFIA Advocate Representative (FEMA employee). Using the data 
collected from the Ask the Advocate web form, the Advocate 
Representative will research the customer's inquiry and offer education 
and guidance to help the customer navigate the NFIP process.

Collection of Information

    Title: National Flood Insurance Program--Mortgage Portfolio 
Protection Program (MPPP).
    Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved 
information collection.
    OMB Number: 1660-0086.
    FEMA Forms: Ask the Advocate Web Form (form number pending OMB 
approval).
    Abstract: Regarding the MPPP, FEMA needs the information to ensure 
that private insurance companies that join the NFIP's WYO Program meet 
all state and federal requirements for insurance companies. 
Requirements include a good business record and satisfactory rating in 
their field. There is no other way to obtain this information because 
it is specific to each company that applies to join the NFIP.
    Regarding the Ask the Advocate Web Form, the Homeowner Flood 
Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 requires FEMA to designate a Flood 
Insurance Advocate that would advocate for the fair treatment of NFIP 
policyholders and property owners. Pursuant to this authority, FEMA 
established OFIA on December 22, 2014.
    Members of the public regularly contact OFIA seeking assistance on 
the NFIP. OFIA seeks to facilitate the timely and effective management 
of these inquiries through a web form on OFIA's web page. The web form 
will allow users to provide information that includes all the data 
necessary for OFIA to fulfill its duties and responsibilities.
    Affected Public: Individuals, households, businesses, or other for-
profit.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,041.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 1,041.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 227.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost: $11,856.
    Estimated Respondents' Operation and Maintenance Costs: $0.00.
    Estimated Respondents' Capital and Start-Up Costs: $0.00.

[[Page 41857]]

    Estimated Total Annual Cost to the Federal Government: $71,930.

Comments

    Comments may be submitted as indicated in the ADDRESSES caption 
above. Comments are solicited to (a) evaluate whether the proposed data 
collection is necessary for the proper performance of the agency, 
including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) 
evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (c) enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) minimize the burden 
of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including 
through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Millicent L. Brown,
Senior Manager, Records Management Branch, Office of the Chief 
Administrative Officer, Mission Support, Federal Emergency Management 
Agency, Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2021-16507 Filed 8-2-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-52-P


