[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9285-9288]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03479]


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NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD

[Docket No. NTSB-GC-2013-0001]


Plan for Generic Information Collection Activity: Submission for 
OMB Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), this 
notice announces the NTSB is submitting an Information Collection 
Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for generic approval of witness and passenger questionnaires. 
This ICR is the second notice, as required by OMB regulations 
concerning approvals of information collections. This notice again 
describes the nature of the information collection and its expected 
burden and advises the public it may submit comments on this proposed 
generic information collection to the OMB desk officer for the NTSB.

DATES: Submit written comments regarding this proposed plan for the 
collection of information by March 20, 2014.

[[Page 9286]]


ADDRESSES: Interested members of the public may submit written comments 
on the collection of information to the OMB Desk Officer for the NTSB 
at Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 
20503, or via fax: 202-395-5806, (this is not a toll-free number), or 
email: [email protected]. Commenters are encouraged, but not 
required, to send a courtesy copy of any comments to the National 
Transportation Safety Board, ATTN: Office of General Counsel, 490 
L'Enfant Plaza East, SW., Washington, DC 20594.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Tochen, NTSB General Counsel, at 
(202) 314-6080.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with OMB regulations that 
require this Notice for proposed ICRs, as well as OMB guidance 
concerning generic approval of plans for information collections, the 
NTSB herein notifies the public that it may submit comments on this 
proposed ICR to the Office of Management and Budget. 5 CFR 1320.10.

A. NTSB Witness and Passenger Questionnaires are Appropriate for 
Generic Approval

    On May 28, 2010, Administrator, Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), OMB, issued a memorandum to the Heads of 
Executive Departments and Agencies, and Independent Regulatory 
Agencies, providing instructions concerning how agencies can obtain 
generic OMB clearances for information collections in certain 
circumstances. Paperwork Reduction Act--Generic Clearances, available 
at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/inforeg/PRA_Gen_ICRs_5-28-2010.pdf. The memorandum states as follows 
concerning the appropriateness of obtaining such clearances:

    A generic ICR is a request for OMB approval of a plan for 
conducting more than one information collection using very similar 
methods when (1) the need for and the overall practical utility of 
the data collection can be evaluated in advance, as part of the 
review of the proposed plan, but (2) the agency cannot determine the 
details of the specific individual collections until a later time.

    The NTSB's need to obtain information immediately following a 
transportation event it is investigating under 49 U.S.C. 1131 is 
critical. When numerous witnesses observe a transportation event, the 
most effective and timely manner in which the NTSB can obtain first-
hand observations is via distributing questionnaires to all witnesses 
the NTSB can locate.
    This type of information collection is appropriate for generic 
approval under the applicable OMB guidance. Based on its investigation 
of previous transportation events, the NTSB can attest to the utility 
and value of collecting information via witness questionnaires. By 
distributing such questionnaires, the NTSB will gather information 
concerning where the witness was located at the time of the event, 
whether the witness needed medical attention, and what type of 
assistance the witness may have received during and immediately 
following the event. Responses to such questions may help the NTSB in 
determining the probable cause of the transportation event, and will 
likely also assist the NTSB in issuing safety recommendations to 
mitigate the effects of future transportation occurrences. In addition, 
collection of such questionnaires may help ensure the effectiveness of 
its family assistance activities.
    The NTSB customizes each questionnaire to ensure it requests 
information specific to the particular event the NTSB is investigating. 
Consistent with the OMB guidance concerning generic approvals, the NTSB 
will not be able to finalize draft questionnaires specific to each 
event until the event has occurred. Often, questionnaires include a 
diagram of the aircraft, rail car, bus, vessel, or other vehicle 
involved in the event, and requests the respondent pinpoint his or her 
location by drawing on the diagram. In addition, the questionnaire may 
include questions concerning life preservers or other safety devices 
and equipment or other evacuation aspects specific to over-water 
events, if the occurrence involved such a circumstance. These types of 
questions are obviously unique to the specific investigation, and 
impossible to know prior to the occurrence of the event. Overall, the 
types of information the NTSB will solicit in its witness 
questionnaires is appropriate for a generic approval for the 
information collection.

B. Supporting Statement

    The applicable OMB memorandum instructs agencies to provide 
specific information in the supporting statements describing the 
information collections. In particular, the supporting statements 
should include the following:

     The method of collection and, if statistical methods 
will be used, a discussion of the statistical methodology;
     The category (or categories) of respondents;
     The estimated ``burden cap,'' i.e., the maximum number 
of burden hours (per year) for the specific information collections, 
and against which burden will be charged for each collection 
actually used;
     The agency's plans for how it will use the information 
collected;
     The agency' plans to obtain public input regarding the 
specific information collections (i.e., consultation); ad
     The agency's internal procedures to ensure that the 
specific collections comply with the PRA, applicable regulations, 
and the terms of the generic clearance.

Id. at 2.

1. Method of Collection

    The NTSB will collect the information by transmitting the 
questionnaire to witnesses of the event, including surviving 
passengers. Depending on the circumstances, such transmission may occur 
via hand delivery, electronic mail, facsimile transmission, postal 
mail, or express mail, or a combination of methods. Respondents will be 
provided instructions concerning how to return questionnaires to the 
NTSB investigator who distributed them. The NTSB may create an 
electronic system on its Web page that provides the agency with the 
ability to verify whether the respondent was a passenger or a witness 
to the event. If the NTSB is able to create such a system, the agency 
may elect to request respondents log in and complete an electronic, 
web-based questionnaire. While such a system is not available at 
present, the NTSB nevertheless notes this idea, in case it creates and 
utilizes such a system in the future.
    The NTSB will not use statistical methodology in reaching any 
conclusions based on the questionnaires. Instead, the NTSB merely will 
note the total number of respondents in any factual reports for which 
it uses the questionnaires. Respondents'completion of the questionnaire 
is voluntary, and the NTSB generally will not contact them more than 
once to request completion of the questionnaire.

2. Category of Respondents

    In its questionnaires, the NTSB will generally seek information 
from two categories of respondents: eyewitnesses who were not 
passengers of the conveyance involved in the transportation event; and 
witnesses who were onboard as passengers of the conveyance involved. In 
most cases, the NTSB will distribute the questionnaires to passengers, 
as NTSB investigators often interview eyewitnesses verbally at the site 
of an event, rather than soliciting information from them on a written 
instrument. However, in some cases, the NTSB may become aware of

[[Page 9287]]

the existence of many people who observed the transportation event, and 
therefore choose to solicit information from them on a questionnaire, 
rather than attempting to interview each eyewitness personally. 
Therefore, the majority of people to whom the NTSB will distribute the 
questionnaires will be passengers who survived the transportation 
event.

3. Maximum Burden Hours

    In its 2012 Annual Report to Congress, the NTSB stated it launched 
on eight major accidents and 252 regional or ``field'' accidents.\1\ 
The NTSB will most likely distribute the questionnaires to passengers 
involved in, and/or witnesses who observe, major accidents. Some NTSB 
regional investigations may require use of the questionnaires, but 
often, fewer passengers and/or witnesses will observe regional events 
and therefore be able to offer feedback on a questionnaire. As a 
result, in general, the NTSB estimates it may use a questionnaire for 
approximately half of its regional transportation event launches, which 
would total 130 investigations. Of these investigations, the NTSB may 
request information on the questionnaire from approximately 10 
passengers and/or witnesses, to reach a total of 1,300 individuals who 
may receive a questionnaire.
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    \1\ National Transportation Safety Board 2012 Annual Report to 
Congress, available at http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/agency_reports/2012Annual%20Report.pdf.
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    The NTSB seeks to emphasize these estimations are approximate, as 
they are depend on the number of transportation events that occur, and 
how many passengers and/or witnesses may be available to complete the 
questionnaire. As the NTSB stated in its first Federal Register notice 
regarding this proposed generic information collection, the number of 
transportation events for which the NTSB launches and investigates vary 
widely from year to year.

4. Use of the Information Collected

    Witnesses' and passengers' input concerning their recollections of 
the events preceding, during, and immediately following the 
transportation event are extremely important to the NTSB. The NTSB 
creates discipline-specific ``groups'' for each investigation, and such 
groups are tasked with investigating a specific aspect of the 
occurrence. Often, the NTSB creates a survival factors group, which 
investigates how the circumstances of an event affected the likelihood 
of passengers and crewmembers surviving the event. This group also 
examines what, if any, changes could occur to improve the likelihood of 
survival and/or mitigate the effects of the occurrence.
    In practical terms, the NTSB uses the information it collects in 
completed questionnaires by identifying trends in responses to the 
questions on the questionnaires. For example, if a majority of 
respondents indicate they experienced hardship in evacuating an 
aircraft, rail car, bus, vessel, or other vehicle following an event 
due to problems with the evacuation route or emergency door, the NTSB 
would note this data in its factual report summarizing the 
questionnaires. The NTSB may then utilize this identification of the 
trend to make a safety recommendation to improve evacuation methods and 
thereby improve transportation safety and likelihood of survival. 
Similarly, if a majority of respondents who are eyewitnesses to a 
transportation event report observing a specific unusual aspect 
immediately prior to the event, this information may assist the NTSB 
with determining the probable cause of the occurrence. For example, 
eyewitnesses who complete a questionnaire and state they observed smoke 
from a train's engine or from a specific part of an aircraft before a 
crash can provide information to help the NTSB focus its investigation 
and determine the probable cause.
    Overall, the information the NTSB will receive from completed 
questionnaires is important to the NTSB. The NTSB will use the 
information to improve transportation safety by determining the 
probable cause of the event, mitigating the effects of the event, 
issuing safety recommendations, fulfilling its family assistance 
responsibilities, or all of these activities.

5. Public Input Regarding the Information Collected

    The NTSB does not generally obtain public input concerning the 
scope of, or specific questions on, the witness or passenger 
questionnaires it uses. However, the NTSB utilizes a party process for 
each investigation.\2\ Through this process, NTSB investigators who 
seek to use a witness and/or passenger questionnaire to obtain 
information from witnesses and/or passengers may consult with party 
participants who are assisting with the investigation, and gather input 
to improve the questionnaire. If an NTSB investigator believes a party 
participant's feedback would improve the questionnaire concerning a 
particular question, the investigator may change the questionnaire and 
recommend this change be retained for future investigations. Overall, 
the NTSB engages in consultation with party participants, in the 
interest of improving the questionnaire.
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    \2\ See 49 CFR 831.11; see also NTSB Aviation Investigation 
Manual, Major Team Investigations (Nov. 2002), available at http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/manuals/MajorInvestigationsManual.pdf.
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6. Internal Procedures

    Lastly, the OMB memorandum describing generic clearances recommends 
agencies describe the procedures it will undertake to ensure 
information collections to which the generic clearance applies will 
comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act, applicable regulations, and 
the terms provided in the generic clearance. The NTSB Office of General 
Counsel plans to provide internal guidance to agency personnel, 
consisting of this publication, as well as the OMB memorandum 
discussing generic clearances, upon OMB approval of the clearance. The 
internal guidance will include specific instructions concerning use of 
witness and passenger questionnaires, and explain the applicable 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act and its implementing 
regulations. The NTSB will also ensure its modal office directors are 
aware of the generic clearance, and its terms, and direct investigators 
to contact the NTSB Office of General Counsel to coordinate the 
dissemination of witness and/or passenger questionnaires. Given the 
small size of the NTSB, the agency believes it will be able to 
communicate the terms of compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act to 
all investigators who may need to solicit feedback from witnesses and/
or passengers via questionnaires.

C. Description of Burden

    The NTSB has carefully reviewed questionnaires it has used 
previously to obtain information from witnesses and passengers. The 
NTSB assures the public that these questionnaires have used plain, 
coherent, and unambiguous terminology in its requests for information. 
In addition, the questionnaires are not duplicative of other agencies' 
collections of information, because in most instances, the NTSB, by 
statute, maintains priority over other agencies during a transportation 
accident investigation; therefore, any information collection that 
another agency might undertake must be approved in advance by the NTSB 
investigator-in-charge (IIC). The

[[Page 9288]]

IIC would not approve an information collection that is duplicative of 
the witness/passenger questionnaire when the NTSB has already sought 
feedback on the questionnaire.
    In general, the NTSB believes the questionnaires will impose a 
minimal burden on respondents: the NTSB estimates that each respondent 
will spend approximately 30 to 45 minutes in completing each 
questionnaire. The NTSB estimates that a maximum of 650 respondents per 
year would complete a questionnaire. Although the NTSB may distribute 
questionnaires to perhaps as many as 1,300 people, historic response 
rates indicate only 50 percent of the questionnaires will be returned 
completed. However, the NTSB again notes this number will vary, given 
the unpredictable nature of the frequency of transportation events.

D. Request for Comments

    In accordance with 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), the NTSB seeks feedback 
from the public concerning this proposed plan for information 
collection. In particular, the NTSB asks the public to evaluate whether 
the proposed collection of information is necessary; to assess the 
accuracy of the NTSB's burden estimate; to comment on how to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and to comment on how the NTSB might minimize the burden of the 
collection of information.
    The NTSB will carefully consider all feedback it receives in 
response to this notice. As described above, obtaining the information 
the NTSB seeks on these questionnaires in a timely manner is important 
to NTSB investigations; therefore, obtaining approval from OIRA for 
these collections of information on a generic basis is a priority for 
the NTSB.

    Dated: February 12, 2014.
Deborah A.P. Hersman,
Chairman.
[FR Doc. 2014-03479 Filed 2-14-14; 8:45 am]
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