2011-14784. Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

AGENCY:

Surface Transportation Board, DOT.

ACTION:

30-Day notice of submission of information collection approval from the Office of Management and Budget and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

As part of a Federal Government-wide effort to streamline the process to seek feedback from the public on service delivery, the Surface Transportation Board has submitted a Generic Information Collection Request (Generic ICR): “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery ” to OMB for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. seq.).

DATES:

Comments must be submitted July 11, 2011.

ADDRESSES:

Comments should be directed to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Kimberly Nelson, Surface Transportation Board Desk Officer, by fax at [phone]; by mail at Room 10235, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503; or by e-mail at: [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request additional information, please contact Marilyn Levitt, Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW., Washington, DC 20423-0001, or to: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.

Abstract: The information collection activity will garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with the Administration's commitment to improving service delivery. By qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study. This feedback will provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus attention on areas where communication, training or changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management.

Feedback collected under this generic clearance will provide useful information, but it will not yield data that can be generalized to the overall population. This type of generic clearance for qualitative information will not be used for quantitative information collections that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Such data uses require more rigorous designs that address: The target population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing potential non-response bias, the protocols for data collection, and any testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior fielding the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative results.

The Agency received no comments in response to the 60-day notice published in the Federal Register of December 22, 2010 (75 FR 80542).

Below we provide the Surface Transportation Board's projected average estimates for the next three years:^[1]

Current Actions: New collection of information.

Type of Review: New Collection.

Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Government.

Average Expected Annual Number of activities: 5.

Respondents: 15 (for one focus group), 150 (for each of two surveys), 200 (for each of two comments card requests).

Annual responses: 15 (for focus groups), 300 (for surveys), 400 (for comment cards)

Frequency of Response: Once per request.

Average minutes per response: 24 minutes (2 hours per focus group, 36 minutes per survey, 10 minutes per comment card).

Burden hours: 277.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget control number.

Jeffrey Herzig,

Clearance Clerk.

Footnotes

1.  The 60-day notice included the following estimate of the aggregate burden hours for this generic clearance Federal-wide:

Average Expected Annual Number of activities: 25,000.

Average number of Respondents per Activity: 200.

Annual responses: 5,000,000.

Frequency of Response: Once per request.

Average minutes per response: 30.

Burden hours: 2,500,000.