[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 146 (Thursday, July 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40731-40732]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-20369]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Submission of Study Package to the Office of Management
and Budget; Opportunity for Public Comment
AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) Social Science Program is
submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request for
clearance of a three year program of collections of information that
would conduct surveys of the public regarding park visitors and visitor
services. The NPS is publishing this notice to inform
[[Page 40732]]
the public of this proposed three-year program and to request comments
on the program and the proposed approach.
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: (a) Whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the NPS, including whether the information will have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the NPS estimate of the burden of the collection of
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions
used; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) how to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other forms of
information technology.
Sixty-day Notice of Intention to Request Clearance of Collection of
Information--Opportunity for Public Comment was published in the
Federal Register on September 30, 1997, Vol. 63 No. 189 pgs. 51133-
51143. Several comments were received from the public as a result of
the Federal Register Notice and have been integrated into this final
proposal.
DATES: Public Comments will be accepted on or before August 31, 1998.
Send comments to: Office of Management and Budget, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, ATTN: Desk Officer for the Interior
Department, Washington, DC 20503. Also send a copy of these comments to
Mr. Jared D. Ficker, Social Science Specialist, National Park Service,
Social Science Program, 1849 C Street NW, MS 3127, Washington, DC
20240.
The OMB has up to 60 days to approve or disapprove the information
collection but may respond after 30 days. Therefore, to ensure maximum
consideration, OMB should receive public comments on or before August
31, 1998.
All comments will become a matter of public record. Copies of the
proposal requirement can be obtained from Mr. Jared D. Ficker, Social
Science Specialist, National Park Service, Social Science Program,
voice 202-208-6330, fax 202-208-4620, e-mail <[email protected]>.
In addition, a complete copy of the proposal is available at the NPS
Social Science Program website at http://www.nps.gov/socialscience/
tech/survey.htm.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Programmatic Approval for NPS Visitor Surveys.
Bureau Form Number: None.
OMB Number: To be assigned.
Expiration Date of Approval: To be assigned.
Type of Request: Request for new clearance.
Description of Need: NPS needs to sponsor information collection
surveys of the public to provide to park managers information for
improving the quality and utility to the public of park programs. NPS
finds the current process by which it secures OMB approval of proposed
collections of information can be improved with respect to securing
public comment and can be made more efficient for the federal
government through reducing current levels of personnel and funding
necessary for preparing and reviewing the proposed collections of
information. NPS believes it has developed an alternative approach for
processing proposed collections of information that will be both more
effective and more efficient. This proposal is designed to test the
alternative approach using one subset of NPS information collection
surveys for a 3-year test period.
Automated Data Collection: At the present time, there is no
automated way to gather this information, since the information
gathering process involves asking visitors to evaluate services and
facilities that they used during their park visits. The intrusion on
individual visitors is minimized by rigorously designing visitor
surveys to maximize the ability of the surveys to use small samples of
visitors to represent large populations of visitors and by coordinating
a program of surveys to maximize the ability of new surveys to build on
the findings of prior surveys.
Description of Respondents: A sample of visitors to parks or of
people who have relationships to parks.
Estimated Average Number of Respondents: The proposal does not
identify the number of respondents because that number will differ from
individual survey to individual survey, depending on the purpose and
design of each individual survey.
Estimated average number of responses: The proposal does not
identify the average number of responses because that number will
differ from individual survey to individual survey, depending on the
purpose and design of each individual survey. For most surveys, each
respondent will be asked to respond only one time, so in those cases
the number of responses will be the same as the number of respondents.
Estimated average burden hours per response: The proposal does not
identify the average burden hours per response because that number will
differ from individual survey to individual survey, depending on the
purpose and design of each individual survey.
Frequency of response: Most individual surveys will request only 1
response per respondent.
Estimated annual reporting burden: The proposal identifies the
requested total number of burden hours annually for all of the surveys
to be conducted under its auspices to be 10,000 burden hours per year.
The total annual burden per survey for most surveys conducted under the
auspices of this proposal would be within the range of 100 to 300
hours.
Diane M. Cooke,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, WASO Administrative Program
Center, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 98-20369 Filed 7-29-98; 8:45 am]
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