Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments for a New Information Collection

Topics:  Federal Highway Administration

Michael Howell
Federal Register
September 8, 2011

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 174 (Thursday, September 8, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55725-55726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-22966]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2011-0099]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments 
for a New Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

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

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SUMMARY: As part of a Federal Government-wide effort to streamline the 
process to seek feedback from the public on service delivery, FHWA 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: Please submit comments by October 11, 2011.

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 (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 number FHWA-2011-0099.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Howell, 202-366-5707, Office 
of Information and Management Service, Federal Highway Administration, 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, 
DC 20590, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery.
    Background: 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 to 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 FHWA received no comments in response to the 60-day notice 
published in the Federal Register of December 22, 2010 (75 FR 80542) 
[Page 17183].
    Below we provide FHWA's projected average estimates for the next 
three years:
    Respondents: State and local governments, highway industry 
organizations, and the general public.

[[Page 55726]]

    Estimated Average Annual Burden: The burden hours per response will 
vary with each survey; however, we estimate an average burden of 15 
minutes for each survey.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: We estimate that FHWA will 
survey approximately 21,000 respondents annually during the next 3 
years. Therefore, the estimated total annual burden is 5,200 hours.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.

     Issued on: September 2, 2011.
 Michael Howell,
Acting Chief, Management Programs and Analysis Division.
[FR Doc. 2011-22966 Filed 9-7-11; 8:45 am]
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