[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 234 (Friday, December 5, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 64401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-31891]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


60-day Notice of Intention to Request Clearance of Collection of 
Information--Opportunity for Public Comment

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and 376 
Units of the National Park System.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) is proposing in 1998 to 
conduct customer service studies at all 376 parks in the National Park 
System to establish baseline data for the customer satisfaction 
measurement program that NPS is instituting in response to the 
requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993. NPS 
proposes further to conduct similar customer satisfaction surveys in 
each year following 1998 at some to all of the parks in the National 
Park System, with the total number of parks surveyed each year 
determined following an analysis of the results of the 1998 survey.
    Under provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 CFR 
Part 1320, Reporting and Record Keeping Requirements, the National Park 
Service is soliciting comments on the need for gathering the 
information in the proposed customer service studies listed above. The 
NPS also is asking for comments on the practical utility of the 
information being gathered; the accuracy of the burden hour estimate; 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and ways to minimize the burden to respondents, including 
use of automated information collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.
    The NPS goal in conducting these surveys annually is to obtain 
visitor's opinions about the existing quality of services and 
facilities provided in units of the National Park System. Results of 
all surveys will be used by NPS managers to improve visitor services 
and facilities in the parks. In addition, results of the 1998 surveys 
will be used to establish baseline information about the quality of 
services and facilities provided to the visitors. The baseline 
established in 1998 will permit NPS to analyze whether future annual 
customer satisfaction surveys could be conducted on a rotating sample 
of parks, thereby reducing the total burden on visitors while ensuring 
efficient and accurate collection of visitor satisfaction information. 
This approach will permit NPS to respond positively and efficiently to 
the Government Performance and Results act while better serving the 
visitors to the parks.

DATES: Public comments will be accepted on or before February 3, 1998.

SEND COMMENTS TO: Dr. Gary Machlis, NPS Visiting Chief Social 
Scientist, Cooperative Park Studies Unit, College of Forestry, Wildlife 
and Range Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844-1133, 
phone: 208-885-7054.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandy Watson. Voice: 208-885-7054; 
Fax: 208-885-4261, Email: <[email protected]>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Title: Customer Satisfaction Surveys in the National Park System.
    Bureau Form Number: None.
    OMB Number: To be requested.
    Expiration date: To be requested.
    Type of request: Request for new clearance.
    Description of need: The National Park Service needs information 
concerning visitor opinions about the services and facilities that the 
National Park Service provides in each unit of the National Park 
System. The proposed information to be collected from visitors in these 
parks is not available from existing records, sources, or observations 
either regularly or comprehensively.
    Automated data collection: At the present time, the proposed data 
collection process will use machine readable, pre-addressed, postage 
paid customer survey cards to increase the speed with which respondents 
are able to answer the survey instrument and provide their responses to 
the NPS. Beyond this method to accelerate the response time, there is 
no automated way to gather this information, since gathering it 
requires asking visitors to evaluate the services and facilities that 
they used during their individuals and unique park visits.
    Description of Respondents: A sample of visitors to each park.
    Estimated average number of respondents: The number depends on the 
size of the park being surveyed and is estimated to average about 200 
respondents per park.
    Estimated average number of responses: Each respondent will respond 
only one time, so the number of responses will be the same as the 
number of respondents.
    Estimated average burden hours per response: 0.033 hours (2 
minutes).
    Frequency of response: 1 time per respondent.
    Estimated annual reporting burden: An average of 6.6 hours per park 
and a total in 1998 for all parks of 2507 hours. If a sample of parks 
is taken in each of 1999 and 2000, rather than a total survey of all 
parks in each year, the total burden in each of those years would be 
significantly less than 2507 hours per year.
Diane M. Cooke,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, WASO Administrative Program 
Center, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 97-31891 Filed 12-4-97; 8:45 am]
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