[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 58 (Tuesday, March 27, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14295-14296]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-1478]


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

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.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: Under provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 5 
CFR Part 1320, Reporting and Record Keeping Requirements, the National 
Park Service (NPS) invites public comments on an extension of a 
currently approved collection of information (OMB1024-0224).

DATES: Public comments will be accepted on or before May 29, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Send Comments To: Dr. James H. Gramann, NPS Visiting Chief 
Social Scientist; NPS Social Science Program, Texas A & M University, 
225-B Francis Hall, 2261, College Station, TX 77843; Voice: 202-513-
7189; Fax: 202-371-2131; E-mail: [email protected]. Also, 
you may send comments to Leonard Stowe, NPS, Information Collection 
Clearance Officer, 1849 C St., NW. (2065), Washington, DC 20240, or by 
e-mail at [email protected]. All responses to this notice will be 
summarized and included in the request for the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) approval. All comments will become a matter of public 
record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan McBride, NPS Social Science 
Senior Research Associate; c/o NPS Air Resource Division, P.O. Box 
25287, Denver, Co 80225; Voice: 303-969-2814; E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Programmatic Approval for NPS-Sponsored Public Surveys.
    Bureau Form Number: None.
    OMB Number: 1024-0224.
    Expiration Date: 1/31/2008.
    Type of Request: Extension for a currently approved collection.
    Description of Need: The NPS needs information concerning park 
visitors and visitor services, potential park visitors, and residents 
of communities near parks to provide park and NPS managers with usable 
knowledge for improving the quality and utility of agency programs, 
services, and planning efforts.
    Since many of the NPS surveys are similar in terms of the 
populations being surveyed, the types of questions being asked, and 
research methodologies, the NPS proposed to and received clearance from 
OMB for a program of review for NPS-sponsored public surveys (OMB 
1024-0224 exp. 8/31/2001; 3-year extension granted, exp. 9/30/
2004; 3-year extension granted, exp. 1/31/2008).
    The program presented an alternative approach to complying with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act. In the eight year since the NPS received 
clearance for the program of expedited review, 371 public surveys have 
been conducted in units of the National Park System. The benefits of 
this program have been significant to the NPS, Department of Interior, 
OMB, NPS cooperators, and the public. Significant time and cost savings 
have been incurred. Expedited approval was typically granted in 60 days 
or less from the date the Principal Investigator first submitted the 
survey package for review. This is a significant reduction over the 
approximate 6-8 months involved in the standard OMB review process. 
From FY 1999 through FY 2006, the expedited review process has 
accounted for a cost savings to the federal government and PIs 
estimated at $723,087.
    Comments are invited on: (1) The practical utility of the 
information being gathered; (2) the accuracy of the burden hour 
estimate; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden to 
respondents, including use of automated information collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. Before including 
your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal 
identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your 
entire comment--including your personal identifying information--may be 
made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your 
comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public 
review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    Automated data collection: At the present time, there is no 
automated way to gather this information, since the information 
gathering process involves asking the public for their opinions on 
services and facilities that they used during their visits, services 
and facilities they are likely to use on future park visits, and 
opinions regarding park management. The burden on individuals is 
minimized by rigorously designing public surveys to maximize the 
ability of the surveys to use small samples of individuals to 
represented large populations of the public, and by coordinating the 
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, 
potential visitors to parks, and residents of communities near parks.
    Estimated average number of respondents: The program does not 
identify the number of respondents because that number will differ in 
each individual survey, depending on the purpose and design of each 
information collection.
    Estimated average number of responses: The program does not 
identify the average number of responses because that number will 
differ in 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 program does not 
identify

[[Page 14296]]

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 information collection.
    Frequency of Response: Most individual surveys will request only 1 
response per respondent.
    Estimated annual reporting burden: The program identifies the 
requested total number of burden hours annually for all of the surveys 
to be conducted under its auspices to be 15,000 burden hours per year. 
The total annual burden per survey for most surveys conducted under the 
auspices of this program would be within the range of 50 to 200 hours.

    Dated: February 28, 2007.
Leonard E. Stowe,
NPS, Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 07-1478 Filed 3-26-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-53-M