SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Presidential Policy Directive 8 (PPD-8: National Preparedness), issued on March 30, 2011, establishes a National Preparedness Goal (NPG) that identifies the core capabilities necessary for preparedness and a National Preparedness System (NPS) which guides activities to enable the nation to achieve the NPG. The NPS allows the nation to track the progress of our ability to build and improve the capabilities necessary to prevent, protect against, mitigate the effects of, respond to, and recover from those threats that pose the greatest risk to the security of the nation. The NPS provides an integrated approach to preparedness that can be implemented and measured at all levels of government. This system is an all-of-nation and whole community approach to preparedness, from neighborhood organizations to civic groups and private businesses. It contains a methodical approach integrated across the preparedness cycle and links together programs and requirements into a comprehensive system, driving rational decision-making and allowing for a direct and defensible assessment of progress against clearly defined objectives. The NPS is based on a consistent methodology for assessing the threats and hazards facing a given jurisdiction. The findings of the assessment drive planning factors and all other components of the preparedness cycle including resource requirements, existing capabilities and capability gaps, driving investments to close those gaps, making and validating improvements in capabilities through training and exercising, and continually assessing progress.

Section 648(b)(1) of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, Public Law 109-295 (6 U.S.C. 748(b)(1)) also provides for these exercises and states the Administrator “shall carry out a national exercise program to test and evaluate the national preparedness goal, National Incident Management System, National Response, and other related plans and strategies.”

The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) provides the program structure, multi-year planning system, tools, and guidance necessary for entities to build and sustain exercise programs that enhance homeland security capabilities, and ultimately, preparedness. The HSEEP After Action Report/Improvement Plan (AAR/IP), Integrated Preparedness Plans (IPPs), and National Exercise Program (NEP) Support Request Form provide standardized methods for reporting the results of exercises, identifying exercise program priorities, and submitting exercise nominations necessary to validate national preparedness capabilities.

This proposed information collection previously published in the Federal Register on June 17, 2026, at 91 FR 36605 with a 60-day public comment period. Four public comments were received. FEMA appreciates the commenters' support for maintaining the HSEEP Documentation information collection and recognizes the continued value of HSEEP in supporting consistent exercise design, conduct, evaluation, after-action reporting, improvement planning, grant accountability, and national preparedness analysis. Commenters emphasized that HSEEP templates and documentation help validate preparedness capabilities, support trend analysis, and encourage participation and accountability across components, jurisdictions, and exercise partners. FEMA also acknowledges concerns that current HSEEP templates can be difficult to manipulate, may require duplicative data entry across documents, and can create administrative burden through formatting, reconciliation, and document-management tasks, particularly for smaller or less-resourced exercise programs.

FEMA will consider the recommendations to simplify and modernize HSEEP templates and reduce redundant content across materials, provide clearer minimum documentation guidance for each of the seven exercise types, and support scalable approaches such as simplified forms, digital submission, reusable structured data, conditional fields, and responsible AI use in future revisions of these collection instruments. FEMA notes that Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP doctrine) emphasizes flexibility, scalability, and the appropriate documentation based on exercise purpose and scope. See HSEEP doctrine (January 2020), available at preptoolkit.fema.gov/​web/​hseep-resources/​policy-and-guidance. FEMA's current collection allows electronic submission, and tools such as the Preparedness Toolkit and Exercise Builder support exercise planning, conduct, evaluation, and documentation. No change to the information collection or the burden estimate is being made during this extension, but FEMA will consider the feedback in future revisions to HSEEP doctrine, templates, forms, supporting tools, and burden analyses. The purpose of this notice is to notify the public that FEMA will submit the information collection abstracted below to the Office ( printed page 72549) of Management and Budget for review and clearance.

Collection of Information

Title: Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) Documentation.

Type of Information Collection: Extension of a currently approved information collection.

OMB Number: 1660-0118.

FEMA Forms: FEMA Form FF-008-FY-21-102 (formerly 091-0-1), After Action Report/Improvement Plan (AAR/IP); FEMA Form FF-008-FY-21-100 (formerly 008-0-26), Integrated Preparedness Plan (IPP); FEMA Form FF-008-FY-21-101 (formerly 008-0-27), National Exercise Program (NEP) Support Request Form.

Abstract: The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) Documentation collection provides reporting on the results of preparedness exercises and provides assessments of the respondents' capabilities so that strengths and areas for improvement are identified, corrected, and shared as appropriate prior to a real incident. This information is also required to be submitted as part of certain FEMA grant programs.

Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 253.

Estimated Number of Responses: 471.

Estimated Average Time per Response: 30.6964 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 14,458.

Estimated Total Annual Respondent Cost: $1,281,412.

Estimated Respondents' Operation and Maintenance Costs: $0.

Estimated Respondents' Capital and Start-Up Costs: $0.

Estimated Total Annual Cost to the Federal Government: $80,054.

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.

91 FR 72548