Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Request for Approval of a New Information Collection |
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Michael Howell
Federal Highway Administration
30 March 2016
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 30, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17758-17760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07169]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Highway Administration
[Docket No. FHWA-2016-0010]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Request for
Approval of a New Information Collection
AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of request for approval of a new information collection.
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SUMMARY: The FHWA has forwarded the information collection request
described in this notice to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for approval of a new information collection. We published a Federal
Register Notice with a 60-day public comment period on this information
collection on June 23, 2015. We are required to publish this notice in
the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Please submit comments by April 29, 2016.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments within 30 days to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget,
725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention DOT Desk Officer.
You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information collection,
including: (1) Whether the proposed collection is necessary for the
FHWA's performance; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways
for the FHWA to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the
collected information; and
[[Page 17759]]
(4) ways that the burden could be minimized, including the use of
electronic technology, without reducing the quality of the collected
information. All comments should include the Docket No. FHWA-2016-0010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Nesbitt
(michael.nesbitt@dot.gov), 202-366-1179, Office of Infrastructure,
Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: National Transportation Performance
Management (TPM) Implementation Review, TPM Toolbox, and TPM State-of-
Practice Questionnaires.
Type of request: New information collection requirement.
Background: Moving The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st
Century (MAP-21) Act and the subsequent Fixing America's Surface
Transportation Act (FAST Act) transformed the Federal-aid highway
program by establishing new requirements for transportation performance
management to ensure the most efficient investment of Federal
transportation funds. Transportation performance management increases
the accountability and transparency of the Federal-aid highway program
and provides for a framework to support improved investment decision
making through a focus on performance outcomes for key national
transportation goals. State transportation agencies (STAs) will be
expected to use the information and data generated as a result of the
new regulations to make better informed transportation planning and
programming decisions. The new performance aspects of the Federal-aid
program will allow FHWA to better communicate a national performance
story and to more reliably assess the impacts of Federal funding
investments.
Under the ``National Transportation Performance Management (TPM)
Implementation Review Survey, TPM State-of-Practice Questionnaires, and
TPM Toolbox'' information collection request (ICR), the FHWA will
collect information on the current state of the practice, data,
methods, and systems used by State, metropolitan, regional, local, and/
or tribal transportation entities to support their TPM processes in
accordance with 23 U.S.C. 119, 134-135, and 148-150, as amended by MAP-
21 and the FAST Act. This information will also be used to develop and
deliver existing and future Federal Highway Programs through successful
partnerships, value-added stewardship, and risk-based oversight.
Underpinning this effort will be a robust focus on improving FHWA and
its partners' capacity to implement performance provisions. The
information collected from these activities will translate into having
a better skilled workforce, effective supporting systems, and clearly
articulated programs that are optimally positioned and equipped to
deliver the FHWA's mission. In general, the components of the
``National TPM Implementation Review Survey, TPM State-of-Practice
Questionnaires, and TPM Toolbox'' will involve questions related to:
1. TPM related implementation efforts, programs, and activities,
2. Needs for TPM guidance and policy concerning MAP-21 and FAST
provisions;
3. TPM capacity building needs;
4. Effectiveness implementing performance based planning and
programming and TPM processes.
The most consequential activity covered by this ICR is the
``National TPM Implementation Review Survey,'' which is scheduled to be
administered in 2016 and again several years later.
Overview
In the summer of 2015, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
published the National TPM Implementation Review Survey and Information
Collection Request, Docket FHWA-2015-0013. In that 60-day Federal
Register Notice (FRN), FHWA stated it would administer the first
National TPM Implementation Review Survey in 2016 to establish a
baseline and assess:
1. FHWA and its partners' progress implementing MAP-21 performance
provisions and related TPM best practices; and
2. The effectiveness of performance-based planning and programming
processes and transportation performance management.
In that FRN, FHWA also stated that a second National TPM
Implementation Review Survey will be conducted several years after the
first to assess FHWA and its partners' progress in addressing any gaps
or issues identified during the first survey. The findings from the
first review survey will be used in a pair of statutory reports to
Congress due in 2017 on the effectiveness of performance-based
planning, programming processes, and transportation performance
management (23 U.S.C. 119, 134(l)(2), and 135(h)(2)). The findings from
the second survey will be used in a subsequent follow-up report. It is
important to note that this is not a compliance review. The overall
focus of the National TPM Implementation Review Survey is on the TPM
and performance-based planning processes and practices used by STAs and
MPOs, not the performance outcomes of those processes.
FHWA received 20 comment letters and over 24 unique comments. While
a number of concerns were expressed by the commenters, they generally
supported the information collection request outlined in the FRN.
Regarding the National TPM Implementation Review Survey, stakeholders
were most concerned about the estimated burden of effort and time for
administration of the survey. Based on those specific comments to the
docket, it became clear that a majority of responding States, MPOs, and
their respective associations want FHWA to: (1) ``coordinate with
stakeholders when developing'' the design of any TPM surveys,
questionnaires, or related instruments; (2) Provide more information on
the type of questions to be asked as part of the National TPM
Implementation Review Survey and any State-of-Practice Questionnaires;
(3) Minimize the burden of effort to the greatest extent practicable;
(4) Delay administration of National TPM Implementation Review Survey
until after the final rulemakings; and (5) Share data from the National
TPM Implementation Review Survey with States, MPOs, and their
respective associations to support the development of federally and
state funded TPM capacity building efforts.
To address the first three concerns listed in the preceding
paragraph, stakeholders can provide input on the design of National TPM
Implementation Review Survey by:
1. Submitting comments on the draft survey questions and survey
design report to the docket.
2. Participating in one of two webinar listening sessions on the
design of the National TPM Implementation Review Survey. The date and
time of these webinars will be advertised at www.fhwa.dot.gov/TPM. To
receive an email notification announcing the date and time of these
webinar listening sessions, please visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/TPM and
subscribe to email updates.
To address the concern on the timing of the National TPM
Implementation Review Survey, FHWA decided to delay administering the
review until after publication of the Statewide and Nonmetropolitan
Transportation Planning; Metropolitan Transportation Planning Final
Rulemaking.
[[Page 17760]]
In addition to the more formal National TPM Implementation Review
Survey, FHWA will conduct informal voluntary TPM State-of-Practice
Questionnaires related to ongoing TPM policy and guidance, technical
assistance, and capacity needs. To address concerns expressed by
stakeholders regarding the burden of effort and administration of these
additional questionnaires, FHWA is proposing to sequence the National
TPM Implementation Review Survey and other State-of-the-Practice
Questionnaires on a biennial cycle. Under this biennial cycle, the
first National TPM Implementation Review Survey would be administered
in 2016 and the follow-up in 2020. The smaller, less formal State-of-
the-Practice Questionnaires would be administered in 2018 and 2022. The
State-of-the-Practice Questionnaires are essential to helping FHWA
coordinate with its many stakeholders to reduce duplicative survey
efforts as the industry works to implement and understand the TPM
practices.
Under this sequencing, the National TPM Implementation Review
Survey will continue to serve the original purpose of allowing FHWA to
evaluate the effectiveness of efforts to implement TPM and PBPP. The
State-of-the-Practice Questionnaires will enable FHWA and its
stakeholders to coordinate the collection of information necessary to
advance the state-of-the-practice and further TPM capacity building
efforts. This approach limits the number of TPM related surveys to 4
over a number of years:
National TPM Implementation Review Survey (Baseline):
2016.
State-of-the-Practice Questionnaires: 2018.
National TPM Implementation Review Survey (Follow-up):
2020.
State-of-the-Practice Questionnaires: 2022.
After each survey or questionnaire, FHWA and its stakeholders will
explore how to better align the information collection requests with
yet-to-be determined performance management reporting processes. The
information will be collected from State, metropolitan, regional,
local, and/or tribal transportation agencies via internet-based
questionnaires or web applications and will be used to help FHWA and
its partner organizations do the following:
Strategically plan to meet ever growing demand for TPM
technical assistance needs;
Develop and refine TPM policy and guidance based on
stakeholder feedback;
Channel resources to meet capacity development and
training needs; and
Identify and prioritize TPM research needs.
Lastly, as part of FHWA's ongoing technical assistance efforts, a
TPM Toolbox is being created to help FHWA's partners self-assess and
benchmark their TPM implementation progress, capabilities, and gaps.
The TPM Toolbox will also help FHWA streamline the integration and
administration of all the efforts described above. To maximize the
effectiveness and efficiency of the TPM Toolbox, FHWA will collect
business contact and organizational demographic (size of organization,
location, etc.) information along with the responses submitted as part
of the TPM Toolbox's self-assessment applications.
Respondents: The 975 respondents estimate is based on soliciting
input from 52 STA, 409 MPOS, and a sampling of other State and local
transportation entities. In most cases, only STAs and MPOs will be
surveyed.
Frequency: Agencies will be solicited to provide information via a
survey 1 time every two years. Additionally, transportation agencies
may submit information more frequently by using the TPM Toolbox's self-
assessment tool.
Estimated Average Burden per Response: The estimated average annual
burden hours is up to 20 hours per response during a year with a
survey/questionnaire request.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: The estimated total annual
burden hours for all respondents is estimated to be 19,500 burden hours
(975 respondents x 20 burden hours) per year with survey/questionnaire
requests.
Professional Staff Time During a Survey Year
20 hours/respondent x 975 respondents x 1 questionnaire during
a survey year = 19,500 hours
Clerical Staff Time During a Survey Year
2 hours/respondent x 975 respondents x 1 questionnaire during
a survey year = 1,950 hours
The aggregated associated salary cost to all respondents (975)
during a survey year is estimated to be $1,032,213 based on an average
salary of $38 per hour (approximately $79,000 per year) for
professional staff and $18 per hour (approximately $37,000 per year)
for clerical staff. Disaggregated, the total average annual cost per
respondent during a survey year is estimated to be $1,058.68. The
burden hours and costs are illustrated below.
Professional Staff Cost During a Survey Year
All respondents: 19,500 hours x $38 per hour = $741,000
[cir] Per respondent: (20 x $38 = $760)
Clerical Staff Cost During a Survey Year
All respondents: 1,950 hours x $18 per hour = $35,100
[cir] Per respondent (2 hours x $18 per hour = $36)
Total Annual Cost During a Survey Year
Subtotal Direct Salaries (Professional + Clerical) $776,100
Overhead/fringe benefits at 33%: $256,113
Total annual respondents cost during survey year: $1,032,213
[cir] Total average annual cost per respondent during survey year:
$1,058.68
Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the U.S. DOT's performance,
including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the
accuracy of the U.S. DOT's estimate of the burden of the proposed
information collection; (3) ways to enhance the quality, usefulness,
and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that the burden
could be minimized, including the use of electronic technology, without
reducing the quality of the collected information. The agency will
summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's
clearance of this information collection.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.
Issued On: March 25, 2016.
Michael Howell,
Information Collection Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-07169 Filed 3-29-16; 8:45 am]
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