[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 234 (Tuesday, December 6, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88001-88002]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29237]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2014-0011-N-02]


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: FRA is seeking public comments on its proposal to renew its 
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) clearance to participate in the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) program, ``Generic Clearance for the 
Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery'' (OMB 
program). FRA will submit the information collection requirements 
described below to OMB for review, as required by the PRA. The OMB 
program was created to facilitate Federal agencies' efforts to 
streamline the process to seek public feedback on service delivery. 
Current FRA clearance under the OMB program expires May 31, 2017.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than February 6, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments on any or all of the following 
proposed activities by mail to Ms. Kimberly Toone, Office of 
Information Technology, RAD-20, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 
New Jersey Ave. SE., Mail Stop 35, Washington, DC 20590. Commenters 
requesting FRA to acknowledge receipt of their respective comments must 
include a self-addressed stamped postcard stating, ``Comments on OMB 
control number 2130-0593.'' Alternatively, comments may be transmitted 
via facsimile to (202) 493-6497, or via email to Ms. Toone at 
[email protected]. Please refer to the assigned OMB control number in 
any correspondence submitted. FRA will summarize comments received in 
response to this notice in a subsequent notice and include them in its 
information collection submission to OMB for approval.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Kimberly Toone, Office of 
Information Technology, RAD-20, Federal Railroad Administration, 1200 
New Jersey Ave. SE., Mail Stop 35, Washington, DC 20590 (telephone: 
(202) 493-6132). (These telephone numbers are not toll-free.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive Order 12862 (1993) (Setting 
Customer Service Standards) directed all Federal executive departments 
and agencies and requested independent Federal agencies to provide 
service to ``customers'' that matches or exceeds the best service 
available in the private sector. See also Executive Order 13571 (2011) 
(Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service). For 
purposes of these orders, ``customer'' means an individual who or 
entity that is directly served by a Federal department or agency. FRA 
seeks renewed OMB approval of a generic clearance to collect 
qualitative feedback on our service delivery (i.e., the products and 
services that FRA creates to help consumers and businesses understand 
their rights and responsibilities, including Web sites, blogs, videos, 
print publications, and other content).
    Below is a brief summary of the information collection activity FRA 
will submit to OMB for clearance as required under the PRA:
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery OMB Control Number: 2130-0593.
    Status: Regular Review.

[[Page 88002]]

    Type of Request: Extension without change of a previously approved 
collection.
    Abstract: This collection of information is necessary to enable the 
FRA to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely 
manner, consistent with our commitment to improving service delivery. 
The information collected from our customers and stakeholders will help 
ensure users have an effective, efficient, and satisfying experience 
with FRA's programs. This feedback will provide insights into customer 
or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an 
early warning of issues with service, and focus attention on areas 
where communication, training or changes in operations might improve 
delivery of products or services. These collections will allow ongoing, 
collaborative, and actionable communications between FRA and its 
customers and stakeholders. It also allows feedback to contribute 
directly to the improvement of program management.
    Improving FRA's programs requires ongoing assessment of service 
delivery, meaning a systematic review of the operation of a program 
compared to a set of explicit or implicit standards as a means of 
contributing to the continuous improvement of the program. FRA will 
collect, analyze, and interpret information gathered through this 
generic clearance to identify strengths and weaknesses of current 
services and make improvements in service delivery based on feedback. 
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. FRA 
will assess responses 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 customers and stakeholders on the 
FRA's services will be unavailable.
    FRA will only submit a collection for approval under this generic 
clearance if it meets the following conditions:
     FRA will only use the information gathered internally for 
general service improvement and program management purposes and does 
not intend to release it outside FRA;
     FRA will not use information gathered to substantially 
inform influential policy decisions;
     Information gathered will yield qualitative information; 
FRA will not design the collections or expect them to yield 
statistically reliable results or use them as though the results are 
generalizable to the population of study;
     Participation in the collections is 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 OMB program or may have 
experience with the OMB program in the near future; and
     With the exception of information needed to provide 
renumeration for participants of focus groups and cognitive laboratory 
studies, FRA will collect personally identifiable information (PII) 
only to the extent necessary and will not retain it.
    Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Business and 
Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Governments.
    Frequency of Submission: Once per request.
    Total Annual Number of Respondents: 2,100.
    Total Estimated Responses: 2,100.
    Average Minutes per Response: 10 minutes.
    Total Annual Burden Hours: 354 hours.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on November 30, 2016.
Patrick Warren,
Acting Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 2016-29237 Filed 12-5-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P