[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 7, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47045-47047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19305]


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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau), as part 
of a Federal Government-wide effort to streamline the process to seek 
feedback from the public on service delivery, invites the general 
public and other

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Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a proposed 
information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the 
Bureau is soliciting comments concerning the information collection 
requirements relating to ``Generic Clearance for the Collection of 
Qualitative Feedback on the Service Delivery of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Bureau.''

DATES: Written comments are encouraged and must be received on or 
before October 9, 2012 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Electronic: [email protected].
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Direct all written comments to 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Attention: PRA Office), 1700 G 
Street NW., Washington, DC 20552.
    Instructions: Submissions should include agency name and the title 
of the collection, ``Generic Clearance for the Collection of 
Qualitative Feedback on the Service Delivery of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Bureau.'' Comments will be available for public inspection 
and copying at 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 20552 on official 
business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. You 
can make an appointment to inspect comments by telephoning (202) 435-
7275. All comments, including attachments and other supporting 
materials, will become part of the public record and subject to public 
disclosure. For this reason, please do not include in your comments 
information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal 
information or proprietary information. You should only submit 
information that you wish to make available publicly.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the documents contained under this approval number should be 
directed to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, (Attention: PRA 
Office), 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 20552, (202) 435-9011, or 
through the Internet at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on the Service Delivery of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
    OMB Control Number: 3170-XXXX.
    Abstract: The proposed information collection activity would garner 
qualitative feedback from financial institutions, consumers, and 
stakeholders on a wide range of services the Bureau provides in an 
efficient, timely manner, in accordance with the Bureau's commitment to 
improving service delivery. By qualitative feedback the Bureau means 
information that provides useful insights on, for example, 
comprehension, usability, perceptions, and opinions, but are not 
statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be 
generalized to the population of study. The Bureau expects this 
feedback to include insights into consumer or stakeholder perceptions, 
experiences, and expectations, provide an early warning of issues with 
service, or focus attention on areas where communication, training or 
changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services. 
These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative, and actionable 
communications between the Bureau and consumers, financial 
institutions, and stakeholders. It will also allow feedback to 
contribute directly to the improvement of program management.
    The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: Timeliness, 
appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of 
service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. 
Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or 
maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this 
information is not collected, vital feedback from consumers, financial 
institutions, and stakeholders on the Bureau's services will be 
unavailable.
    The Bureau will only submit a collection for approval under this 
generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:
     The collections are voluntary;
     The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on 
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or 
burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents 
and the Federal Government;
     The collections are non-controversial and do not raise 
issues of concern to other Federal agencies;
     Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions 
from respondents who have experience with the program or may have 
experience with the program in the near future;
     Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected 
only to the extent necessary and is not retained;
     Information gathered is intended to be used only 
internally for general service improvement and program management 
purposes and is not intended for release outside of the Bureau (if 
released, the agency must indicate the qualitative nature of the 
information);
     Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions; and
     Information gathered will yield qualitative information; 
the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically 
reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the 
population of study.
    Feedback collected under this generic clearance would provide 
useful information, but it would not yield data that can be generalized 
to the overall population. This type of generic clearance for 
qualitative information will not be used for quantitative information 
collections that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, 
such as monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. 
Such data uses require more rigorous designs that address: The target 
population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, 
the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the 
precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed 
sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing 
potential non-response bias, the protocols for data collection, and any 
testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding 
the study. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely 
to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for 
other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative 
results.
    As a general matter, information collections will not result in any 
new system of records containing privacy information and will not ask 
questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, 
religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered 
private.
    Type of Review: New Generic.
    Affected Public: Individuals and Households; Businesses, 
Organizations, and other for-profit, not-for-profit institutions; and 
State, Local or Tribal Governments.
    Average Expected Annual Number of Activities: 25.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 10,000.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 1 Hour per Response.
    Frequency of Response: 1 per Year.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 250,000.
    Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice 
will be summarized and/or included in the

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request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public 
record. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Bureau, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Bureau's estimate of the burden of the 
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology 
and the assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.
    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: August 1, 2012.
Chris Willey,
Chief Information Officer, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2012-19305 Filed 8-6-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P