[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 241 (Friday, December 16, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74841-74842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-24106]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary


Proposed Agency Information Collection With Applicant Background 
Survey; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of Civil Rights.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of Civil Rights, Office of the 
Secretary, Department of the Interior (DOI), announces the proposed 
extension of a public information collection and seeks public comments 
on the provisions thereof.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by February 
14, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations on the proposed 
information collection should be sent to the Office of Civil Rights, 
Attn: Samuel Bowser, Department of the Interior, 1849 C St., NW., 
Washington, DC 20240. Individuals providing comments should reference 
OMB control 1091-0001, Applicant Background Survey.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on this 
proposed information collection or to obtain a copy of the proposal and 
associated collection instrument, please write to the above address, or 
call Samuel Bowser, (202) 208-5549. The collection instrument is also 
available on the Internet at: http://www.doi.gov/diversity/doc/di_1935.pdf.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    DOI is below parity with the Relevant Civilian Labor Force 
representation for many mission critical occupations. The Department's 
Strategic Human Capital Management Plan identifies the job skills that 
will be needed in its current and future workforce. The job skills it 
will need are dispersed throughout its eight bureaus and include, among 
others, making visitors welcome to various facilities, such as parks 
and refuges, processing permits for a wide variety of uses of the 
public lands, collecting royalties for minerals extracted from the 
public lands, rounding-up and adopting-out wild horses and burros found 
in the west, protecting archeological and cultural resources of the 
public lands, and enforcing criminal laws of the United States. As a 
result of this broad spectrum of duties and services, the Department 
touches the lives of most Americans.
    The people who deal with the Department bring with them a wide 
variety of backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. A diverse workforce 
enables the Department to provide a measure of understanding to its 
customers by relating to the diverse background of those customers. By 
including employees of all backgrounds, all DOI employees gain a 
measure of knowledge, background, experience, and comfort in serving 
all of the Department's customers.
    In order to determine if there are barriers in our recruitment and 
selection processes, DOI must track the demographic groups that apply 
for its jobs. There is no other statistically valid method to make 
these determinations, and no source of this information other than 
directly from applicants. The data collected is not provided to 
selecting officials and plays no part in the merit staffing or the 
selection processes. The data collected will be used in summary form to 
determine trends covering the demographic make-up of applicant pools 
and job selections within a given

[[Page 74842]]

occupation or organizational group. The records of those applicants not 
selected are destroyed in accordance with DOI's records management 
procedures.

II. Data

    (1) Title: Applicant Background Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 1091-0001.
    Current Expiration Date: March 31, 2006.
    Type of Review: Information Collection Renewal.
    Affected Entities: Applicants for DOI jobs.
    Estimated annual number of respondents: 668,905.
    Frequency of response: once per job application.
    (2) Annual reporting and record keeping burden.
    Average reporting burden per application: 5 minutes.
    Total annual reporting: 55,746 hours.
    (3) Description of the need and use of the information: This 
information is required to obtain the source of recruitment, ethnicity, 
race, and disability data on job applicants to determine if the 
recruitment is effectively reaching all aspects of relevant labor pools 
and to determine if there are proportionate acceptance rates at various 
stages of the recruitment process. Response is optional. The 
information is used for evaluating recruitment only, and plays no part 
in the selection of who is hired.

III. Request for Comments

    Request for Comments: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the 
proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the agency, including whether the information shall have 
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and 
(d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources 
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide 
information to or for a federal agency. This includes the time needed 
to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize 
technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and 
verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and 
disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able 
to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to 
complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or 
otherwise disclose the information.
    All written comments will be available for public inspection in the 
Main Interior Building, 1849 C Street, NW., Washington, DC from 9 a.m. 
until 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. For an 
appointment to inspect comments, please contact Samuel Bowser by 
telephone on (202) 208-5549, or by e-mail at [email protected]. A valid picture identification is required for 
entry into the Department of the Interior. If you wish us to withhold 
your personal information, you must prominently state at the beginning 
of your comment what personal information you want us to withhold. We 
will honor your request to the extent allowable by law.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget control number.

    Dated: December 12, 2005.
Samuel Bowser,
Assistant Director for Workforce Diversity, Department of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 05-24106 Filed 12-15-05; 8:45 am]
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