[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 134 (Thursday, July 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36587-36588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-16804]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Customer Satisfaction Survey; Information Collection

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection.

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

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior 
is preparing a customer satisfaction survey to determine the quality of 
its services and its program delivery. Our intent is to improve our 
services and program delivery based upon the results of these surveys. 
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is requesting comments about this customer 
satisfaction survey project.

DATES: The deadline for comments to be received is September 10, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Commenters may submit comments to the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs via electronic mail (email), telefax or postal mail for the 
duration of the comment period. Comments by email must refer to 
``Customer Satisfaction Survey comments'' and be sent to this email 
address: [email protected]. Comments by fax must refer to 
``Customer Satisfaction Survey comments'' and faxed to (202) 208-6635. 
The postal mail address is Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of 
Planning, Budget and Management Support, 1849 C Street, NW, MS 4612-
MIB, Washington, DC 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeannine Brooks, Supervisory Budget 
Analyst, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Planning, Budget and 
Management Support, Branch of Strategic Planning, 1849 C Street, NW, MS 
4612-MIB, Washington, DC 20240, (202) 219-1650; email: 
[email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The needs of the public in Indian Country are substantial. American 
Indians are younger and have higher levels of poverty, unemployment, 
single parent families, fertility and mortality than the U.S. 
population at large. Tribal self-determination relies on strong tribal 
self-governance and self-sufficiency.
    The Bureau of Indian Affairs' mission statement is to fulfill its 
trust responsibilities and promote self-determination on behalf of 
tribal governments, American Indians and Alaska Natives. More 
specifically, the self-determination mission goal is to provide tribes 
with the resources they need to foster strong and stable tribal 
governments and exercise their authority as sovereign nations. The 
Community Development mission goal states that the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs will assist in strengthening tribal communities through the 
development of self-sustaining economies and improved human and 
physical infrastructure. To fulfill the mission statement and meet each 
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' mission goals, the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs must deliver quality services and coordinate its work through 
government-to-government relationships with State, local and tribal 
governments. To evaluate the success of its efforts in meeting its 
goals and the needs of Indian Country, the Bureau of Indian Affairs is 
proposing to administer a series of customer satisfaction surveys. 
Within its major program areas, there are potentially several different 
types of customers. For example, the customers of the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs' Office of Tribal Services range from individual Indians and 
contractors to State and tribal governments.
    Federal agencies are required by Federal Law and Executive Order to 
take certain steps to assure performance of Federal management 
objectives. The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) 
requires agencies to take steps to measure their effectiveness in 
meeting their mission. In addition, Executive Order 12862 mandates that 
agencies take steps to survey customers to determine their desired 
services and their satisfaction with existing services. Customers will 
be provided 60 days to respond to the survey.

II. Discussion

A. Administrative Requirements

    These information collections enable the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
to help the Department of the Interior meet the requirements of 
Executive Order 12862, Setting Customer Service Standards, which 
requires agencies to annually ``survey customers to determine the kind 
and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with 
existing services.''
    The Bureau of Indian Affairs customer satisfaction project will be 
administered by the Office of Planning, Budget and Management Support. 
All information provided through the surveys will be held in confidence 
and used only by the Office of Planning, Budget and Management Support 
for analysis. No identifying information will be shared with other 
offices within the Bureau of Indian Affairs. However, the Office of 
Planning, Budget and Management Support will share the results in 
report form with the Bureau of Indian Affairs management and its 
program areas without identifying specific sources.
    The Office of Planning, Budget and Management Support will manage 
all aspects of the survey including dissemination, data analysis and 
results reporting. Approximately 6,500 surveys will be mailed to the 
customers. It is anticipated that between 2,500 to 3,000 respondents 
would be needed to make meaningful statements or analysis about 
customer satisfaction.
    Any comments received during the public comment period will be 
considered in the development of the final survey instrument. Federal 
regulations require that agencies utilize such steps when developing 
any information collection from the public; regulations also require 
that such information collection be approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) prior to collection. The Branch will 
present an information collection request to OMB which summarizes all 
steps taken related to the proposed surveys. As noted previously, the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs had several major program areas which provide 
public services. These range from trust responsibilities through law 
enforcement and human services. The Branch proposes to survey customers 
of all of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' service programs. The initial 
mission area to be examined will be the Office

[[Page 36588]]

of Tribal Services. The Office of Tribal Services is a broad collection 
of programs and functions ranging from social services and housing to 
tribal courts.

B. Survey Content

    This section reproduces the major questions of the proposed 
surveys. Comments are invited on the questions' content and verbiage. 
The reader should note that the Bureau of Indian Affairs plans to do a 
mail survey; because of formatting limitations with the Federal 
Register, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has not reproduced the visual 
format of the questions. The actual surveys will be more user friendly.
Office of Tribal Services Survey
    The following questions will be repeated in the actual survey for 
the various segments of the Office of Tribal Services. For illustrative 
purposes in this Federal Register notice, the questions are reproduced 
for only one of the Tribal Service's functional areas.
    1. In the past 12 months, I have contacted the Office of Tribal 
Services regarding:
    Judicial Services; Self Determination; Contract Support issues; 
Tribal Enrollment; Tribal Relations; Tribal Federal Acknowledgment; 
Housing; Social Services: (for each, check one) Daily, Weekly, Monthly, 
Quarterly, Annually, None.
    2. My primary contact with the Housing staff has been at the: 
(check one) Washington, DC Office; Regional Office; Agency/Field 
Station.
    3. The staff I deal with most often is: (check one) Secretaries, 
Clerks, Office Assistants; Professional/Technical Staff; Managers, 
Office Supervisors; Don't Know.
    4. The Housing staff is: Readily available; helpful; knowledgeable 
about their jobs; courteous/respectful (for each, check one) always, 
often, sometimes, rarely, never, don't know.
    5. As far as the people handling the Branch of Housing are 
concerned, would you say that you have a great deal of confidence, only 
some confidence or hardly any confidence at all in them? (Check one) a 
great deal of confidence; only some confidence; hardly any confidence; 
don't know; not applicable.
    6. The Branch of Housing: Is easy to contact; responds or takes 
action in a timely manner; provides accurate information; understands 
my needs; values me as a customer (for each, check one) always, often, 
sometimes, rarely, never, don't know.
    7. For the past 12 months, I would rate the performance of the 
Branch of Housing in: listening to my comments or concerns; considering 
my comments or concerns; responding to information requests (check one 
for each) excellent, good, average, fair, poor, not applicable.
    8. If the Branch of Housing's staff can make one improvement in its 
interaction with you, what should it be? (open-ended question)
    9. One thing the Branch of Housing can do new or differently to aid 
its customers is to: (open-ended question).
    10. Please share any additional comments you may have regarding the 
Branch of Housing. (open-ended question)
    Questions 2 through 10 repeat for the following areas: Division of 
Self-Determination Services, Division of Acknowledgment and Research, 
Branch of Social Services, Branch of Judicial Services and Division of 
Tribal Government Services.

III. Request for Comments

    This notice covers the main points of the proposed survey. During 
the comment period, anyone may submit comments or suggestions related 
to any aspect of the proposed information collection.

A. Areas for Comment

    This notice covers the main points of the proposed survey. During 
the comment period, anyone may submit comments or suggestions related 
to any aspect of the proposed information collection. The results of 
the survey will be used by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to improve 
delivery of its services to its customers. This action and this notice 
follows the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act 
of 1993 (GPRA), Executive Order 12862, and the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995. The Bureau will consider the comments received, make any 
warranted changes to its survey, and submit the information collection 
package to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. No survey 
will be conducted until we have received approval from the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget. 
The surveys will display the OMB Control number and expiration date.
    The Bureau of Indian Affairs invites your comments on the 
information collection concerning:
    (a) Is the information necessary for the proper performance of the 
Bureau's functions?
    (b) Is the request duplicated elsewhere?
    (c) Is the request burdensome, hard to understand?
    (d) Does it inform the respondent of the reason for collection, 
give a realistic time to complete the survey, inform the respondent 
whether the response is voluntary, mandatory, or required for a 
benefit, whether a copy must be retained and the length of time?
    (e) Can the survey use any other information technology to lessen 
the respondent's burden?

B. Flexibility

    The Bureau of Indian Affairs is considering ways to increase 
flexibility, including considering the possibility of allowing 
electronic returns. We estimate that 95 percent of surveys will be 
distributed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and returned to it via 
postal mail. A small percent (5 percent) is expected to be returned via 
telefax. Of those sent and/or returned electronically, we expect those 
respondents to be organizational entities such as tribal governments or 
State governments.

C. Burden

    Type of Action: New collection.
    Title: Customer Satisfaction Survey.
    Target Public: Tribes, Individual Indians and Alaska Natives, 
Individuals and Groups petitioning for Federal recognition, State and 
local offices.
    Description of Collection: Survey of customer satisfaction with 
levels of services provided.
    Number of Respondents: The Office of Planning, Budget and 
Management Support estimates that approximately 2,500 to 3,000 
responses will be needed to complete an analysis for a major Bureau of 
Indian Affairs program area.
    We estimate that completion of a survey will take 24 minutes per 
respondent; this figure includes time to read the introductory 
postcard, time to read and complete the survey, and time to mail the 
survey. As planned, we will provide a self-addressed stamped envelope 
for the survey to be returned; we believe that will aid in the response 
rate and minimize the burden on respondents.
    Annual Burden: 2500 respondents  x  24 minutes = 1000 hours with 
negligible costs.

    Dated: June 1, 2001.
James H. McDivitt
Deputy Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs (Management).
[FR Doc. 01-16804 Filed 7-11-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-02-P