2019-17496. Agency Information Collection Extension

AGENCY:

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

EIA submitted an information collection request for extension as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection requests a three-year extension of its Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery, OMB Control Number 1905-0210. This generic clearance enables EIA to collect customer and stakeholder feedback from the public on service delivery in an efficient and timely manner to ensure that EIA's programs effectively meet our customers' needs and to collect feedback on improving service delivery to the public.

DATES:

Comments on this information collection must be received on or before September 16, 2019. If you anticipate any difficulties in submitting your comments by the deadline, contact the DOE Desk Officer at [phone].

ADDRESSES:

Written comments should be sent to:

EIA Desk Officer: Robert Sivinski, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10102, 735 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503, [e-mail].

And send a copy to:

Jacob Bournazian, U.S. Energy Information Administration, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, EI-21, [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jacob Bournazian, telephone: [phone], email at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This information collection request contains

(1) OMB No. 1905-0210;

(2) Information Collection Request Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery;

(3) Type of Request: Three-year extension;

(4) Purpose: This information collection activity provides a means to collect qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient timely manner, in accordance with the Administration's commitment to improving service delivery. Qualitative feedback means data that provide 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 provides insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences, and expectations. It also provides an early warning of issues with service, or focuses attention on areas where communication, training or changes in operations might improve the accuracy of data report on survey instruments or the delivery of products or services. These collections allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between the agency and its customers and stakeholders. It also allows feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management. The solicitation of feedback on Agency Service Delivery includes topics such as: timeliness of publishing, understanding of questions and terminology used in EIA products, perceptions on data confidentiality and security, appropriateness and relevancy of information published, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses are assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. EIA will only submit a collection for approval under this generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:

• Information gathered will be used only internally for general service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency (if released, procedures outlined in Question 16 will be followed);
• Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions;
• Information gathered will yield qualitative information; the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the population of study;
• The collections are voluntary;
• The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;
• The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;
• Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the near future; and
• With the exception of information needed to provide remuneration for participants of focus groups and cognitive laboratory studies, personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained.

If these conditions are not met, EIA will submit an information collection request to OMB for approval through the normal PRA process. The solicitation of feedback on Agency Service Delivery includes topics such as: timeliness of publishing, understanding of questions and terminology used in EIA products, perceptions on data confidentiality and security, appropriateness and relevancy of information published, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses are assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. Advances in technology and service delivery systems in the private sector, have increased the public's expectations of the Government's customer service promise. The Federal Government has a responsibility to streamline and make more efficient its service delivery to better serve the public.

(5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 241,800;

(6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 241,800;

(7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 25,800;

(8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: EIA estimates that there are no additional costs to respondents associated with these qualitative studies other than the costs associated with the burden hours. The cost of the burden hours is estimated to be $2,025,816 (25,800 burden hours times $78.52 per hour).

Statutory Authority E.O. 12862, Setting Customer Service Standards, E.O. 13571, Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service.

Signed in Washington, DC on August 9, 2019.

Nanda Srinivasan,

Director, Office of Survey Development and Statistical Integration, U. S. Energy Information Administration.