[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 26, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44865-44866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20579]


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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION


Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment 
Request; Fast Track Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative 
Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

AGENCY: Small Business Administration.

ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden on 
the public the Small Business Administration (SBA), announces its 
intent to submit a new generic collection of information: ``Fast Track 
Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency 
Service Delivery'' to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. 
The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requires federal agencies to publish 
a notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of 
information before submission to OMB and to allow 60 days for public 
comment in response to the notice. This notice complies with that 
requirement.

DATES: Submit comments on or before November 27, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Send all comments to Small Business Administration, 409 3rd 
Street, 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20416. (202) 205-6981.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amber Chaudhry, Presidential 
Management Fellow, Office of the Chief Operating Office, 
[email protected], 202-657-9722, or Curtis B. Rich, Management 
Analyst, 202-205-7030, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Fast Track Generic Clearance for the Collection of 
Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.
    OMB Control Number: TBD (New Collection).
    Needs and Uses: The proposed information collection will provide a 
means to gather qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an 
efficient, timely manner, in accordance with SBA's commitment to 
improving service delivery. Qualitative feedback means information that 
provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but is not 
statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be 
generalized to the population being

[[Page 44866]]

studied. The type of feedback being solicited will provide insights 
into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations, 
and to contribute directly to the improvement of program management, 
provide an early warning of service issues, or focus attention on areas 
where communication, training or changes in operations might improve 
delivery of products or services.
    SBA expects to use various methods (e.g., focus groups, customer 
satisfaction surveys, comment cards), to solicit public feedback and 
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 
customers and stakeholders on the Agency's services will be 
unavailable.
    The Agency will only submit a collection for approval under this 
generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:
    The collection is voluntary;
    The collection is low-burden for respondents (based on 
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or 
burden-hours per respondent) and is low-cost for both the respondents 
and the Federal Government;
    The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of 
concern to other Federal agencies;
    The 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 will be used only internally for general 
service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended 
for release outside of the agency;
    Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions;
    Information gathered will yield qualitative information;
    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 undertaking 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, the generic 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.
    Affected Public: Individuals; Business or Other For-Profit; Not-
For-Profit Institutions; State, Local, or Tribal Government.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 7,500.
    Projected average burden estimates for the next three years:
    Average Annual Number of Collection Activities: 8.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 7,500.
    Average Minutes per Response: 38 minutes.
    Annual Burden Hours: 4,750.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice 
will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval. 
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the 
accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of 
information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; (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; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of 
operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide 
information.
    Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources 
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide 
information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed 
to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize 
technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and 
verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and 
disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able 
to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to 
complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or 
otherwise disclose the information.

Curtis B. Rich,
Management Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2017-20579 Filed 9-25-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025-01-P