[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 238 (Monday, December 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77244-77245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31750]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Office of the Secretary


Renewal of Information Collection; OMB Control Number 1040-0001, 
DOI Programmatic Clearance for Customer Satisfaction Surveys

AGENCY: Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (Department of the Interior, DOI) plan to ask the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) to extend the approval for the information 
collection (IC) described below. This IC is scheduled to expire March 
31, 2012. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and as 
part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burden, we invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take 
this opportunity to comment on this IC.

DATES: You must submit comments on or before February 10, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand carry comments to the Department of the 
Interior; Office of Policy Analysis; Attention: Don Bieniewicz; Mail 
Stop 3530; 1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC 20240. If you wish to 
email comments, the email address is [email protected]. 
Reference ``DOI Programmatic Clearance for Customer Satisfaction 
Surveys'' in your email subject line. Include your name and return 
address in your email message and mark your message for return receipt.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this IC, contact Donald Bieniewicz on (202) 208-4915.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) (Pub. L. 
103-62) requires agencies to ``improve Federal program effectiveness 
and public accountability by promoting a new focus on results, service 
quality, and customer satisfaction.'' Executive Order 13571 on 
``Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service'' 
requires Federal agencies to establish ``mechanisms to solicit customer 
feedback on Government services.'' To fulfill this responsibility, DOI 
bureaus and offices must collect data from their respective user groups 
to better understand the needs and desires of the public and to respond 
accordingly.
    We use customer satisfaction surveys to help us fulfill our 
responsibilities to provide excellence in government by proactively 
consulting with those we serve. This programmatic clearance provides an 
expedited approval process for DOI bureaus and offices to conduct 
customer research through external surveys such as questionnaires and 
comment cards. We will use this information to support all aspects of 
planning to include buildings, roads, interpretive exhibits, and 
technical systems. We anticipate that the information obtained could 
lead to reallocation of resources, revisions in certain agency 
processes and policies, development of guidance related to customer 
services, and improvement in the way we serve the American public.
    The proposed renewal covers all of the organizational units and 
bureaus in DOI. Bureaus and offices will voluntarily obtain information 
from their customers and stakeholders. No one survey will cover all the 
topic areas; rather, these topic areas serve as a guide within which 
the agencies will develop questions. Topic areas include:
    (1) Communication/information/education. Questions will focus on 
customer satisfaction with aspects of communication/information/
products/education offered. Respondents may be asked for feedback 
regarding the following attributes of the services provided:
    (a) Timeliness.
    (b) Consistency.
    (c) Ease of Use and Usefulness.
    (d) Ease of Information Access.
    (e) Helpfulness and Effectiveness.
    (f) Quality.
    (g) Value for fee paid for information/product/service.
    (h) Level of engagement in communications process (i.e., whether 
respondent feels he/she was asked for input and whether or not that 
input was considered).
    (2) Disability accessibility. This area will focus on customer 
satisfaction data related to disability access to DOI buildings, 
facilities, trails, etc.
    (3) Management practices. This area covers questions relating to 
how well customers are satisfied with DOI management practices and 
processes, what improvements they might make to specific processes, and 
whether or not they feel specific issues were addressed and reconciled 
in a timely, courteous, and responsive manner.
    (4) Resource management. We will ask customers and partners to 
provide satisfaction data related to DOI's ability to protect, 
conserve, provide access to, and preserve natural resources that we 
manage.
    (5) Rules, regulations, policies. This area focuses on obtaining 
feedback from customers regarding fairness, adequacy,

[[Page 77245]]

and consistency in enforcing rules, regulations, and policies for which 
DOI is responsible. It will also help us understand public awareness of 
rules and regulations and whether or not they are explained in a clear 
and understandable manner.
    (6) Service delivery. We will seek feedback from customers 
regarding the manner in which DOI delivers services. Attributes will 
range from the courtesy of staff to timeliness of service delivery and 
staff knowledge of the services being delivered.
    (7) Technical assistance. Questions developed within this topic 
area will focus on obtaining customer feedback regarding attributes of 
technical assistance, including timeliness, quality, usefulness, and 
the skill level of staff providing this assistance.
    (8) Program-specific. Questions for this area will reflect the 
specific details of a program that pertain to its customer respondents. 
The questions will address very specific and/or technical issues 
related to the program. The questions will be geared toward gaining a 
better understanding about how to provide specific products and 
services and the public's attitude toward their usefulness.
    (9) General demographics. Some general demographics may be used to 
augment satisfaction questions so that we can better understand the 
customer and improve how we serve that customer. We may ask customers 
how many times they have used a service, visited a facility within a 
specific timeframe, their ethnic group, or their race.

II. Data

    OMB Control Number: 1040-0001.
    Title: DOI Programmatic Clearance for Customer Satisfaction 
Surveys.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Extension of an approved collection.
    Affected Public: DOI customers. We define customers as anyone who 
uses DOI resources, products, or services. This includes internal 
customers (anyone within DOI) as well as external customers (e.g., the 
American public, representatives of the private sector, academia, other 
government agencies). Depending upon their role in specific situations 
and interactions, citizens and DOI stakeholders and partners may also 
be considered customers. We define stakeholders to mean groups or 
individuals who have an expressed interest in and who seek to influence 
the present and future state of DOI's resources, products, and 
services. Partners are those groups, individuals, and agencies who are 
formally engaged in helping DOI accomplish its mission.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 120,000. We estimate 
approximately 60,000 respondents will submit DOI customer satisfaction 
surveys and 60,000 will submit comment cards.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 120,000.
    Estimated Time per Response: 15 minutes for a customer survey; 3 
minutes for a comment card.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 18,000.

III. Request for Comments

    We invite comments concerning this IC on:
    (1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary, 
including whether or not the information will have practical utility;
    (2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection 
of information;
    (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    (4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include and/or summarize each comment in our 
request to OMB to approve this IC. Before including your address, phone 
number, email 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.
    A Federal 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 OMB control number.

    Dated: December 6, 2011.
Benjamin Simon,
Assistant Director, Office of Policy Analysis, U.S. Department of the 
Interior.
[FR Doc. 2011-31750 Filed 12-9-11; 8:45 am]
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