[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 13, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-22606]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: September 13, 1994]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

 

Information Collection

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of Information Collection.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This information collection will be used to explore two 
methodological issues: whether survey methods show that nonuse values 
exist for nonenvironmental goods (e.g., consumer willingness to pay to 
prevent the job losses of others); and a comparison between alternative 
survey instruments. See Supplementary Information.

DATES: Respondents are requested to submit two copies of all 
correspondence related to this issue. Information should be submitted 
within 15 days of publication of this notice in the Federal Register. 
If you expect that you will be submitting information, but find it 
difficult to do so within the 15-day time period, please advise the 
contact, listed below, of your intentions.

ADDRESSES: Comments and suggestions should be submitted in writing to: 
Ms. Peggy Podolak, Office of Economic Analysis and Competition (PO-61), 
Office of Policy, Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20585, FAX (202) 586-5391.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Ms. Peggy Podolak, at the above address, or by 
telephone at (202) 586-6430.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Energy (DOE) is funding a 
methodological study on nonuse values. A nonuse value is a measure of 
people's willingness to pay to preserve the mere existence of something 
even though they never plan to own, use, or directly benefit from it. 
The first portion of the study addreses whether such values exist for 
nonenvironmental services, such as jobs of others outside one's 
community. In the second portion of the study, willingness-to-pay for 
single items considered individually will be compared to willingness-
to-pay for the same items when bundled. These methodological questions 
will be evaluated in a trade-off context, with the Columbia River Basin 
in the Pacific Northwest as the subject of the study.
    This study is being performed solely to address methodological 
issues surrounding the estimation of nonuse values and will not be used 
for any other purpose. In particular, DOE seeks to ascertain whether 
individuals who state positive nonuse values for environmental services 
also state positive nonuse values for nonenvironmental services and how 
different survey methods perform to elicit willingness-to-pay 
valuations.
    The method used here will be a paper-and-pencil survey administered 
in a shopping mall in or near Raleigh, North Carolina. Recruiters will 
approach shoppers and ask if they are willing to take the survey. It 
will take approximately one-half hour for each of the anticipated 200 
respondents to complete the questionnaire, for a total information 
collection burden of 100 hours.
    DOE recognizes that the use of the mall-intercept approach which is 
necessitated by the Department's limited resources for this research 
entails statistical problems that render problematic any extrapolation 
of survey results to a population or subpopulation other than the 
actual individuals sampled. Thus, the results of this survey will be 
used solely to guide future research and advance the development of 
methods for estimating nonuse values, and will not be used for policy 
purposes related to any rulemaking, natural resource damage assessment, 
or other substantive government program. DOE believes that the 
practical utility of this research justifies the small burdens it 
imposes on respondents.

    Issued in Washington, DC on September 1, 1994.
Abraham E. Haspel,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic and Environmental Policy.
[FR Doc. 94-22606 Filed 9-12-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P