[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 209 (Tuesday, October 31, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50372-50373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-23700]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Information Collection; Generic Clearance for the Collection of 
Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and 
organizations on the extension with no revision of a currently approved 
information collection, Generic Clearance for the Collection of 
Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.

DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before January 2, 
2018 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this notice should be addressed to the 
Assistant Director--Directives and Regulations, Office of Regulatory 
and Management Services, Mail Stop 1150, USDA Forest Service, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250. Comments also may be 
submitted via facsimile to (703) 605-1575, or by email to 
[email protected].
    Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available 
to the public through relevant Web sites and upon request. For this 
reason, please do not include in your comments information of a 
confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or 
proprietary information. If you send an email comment, your email 
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the 
comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the 
Internet. Please note that responses to this public comment request 
containing any routine notice about the confidentiality of the 
communication will be treated as public comments that may be made 
available to the public notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine 
notice.
    The public may inspect the draft supporting statement and/or 
comments received at Forest Service, USDA, 201 14th Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20250, 1st floor CE, during normal business hours. 
Visitors are encouraged to call ahead to (202) 205-1082 to facilitate 
entry to the building. The public may request an electronic copy of the 
draft supporting statement and/or any comments received be sent via 
return email. Requests should be emailed to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicholas DiProfio, Directives and 
Regulations Staff, Office of Regulatory and Management Services, by 
phone (202) 205-1082 or by email at [email protected]. Individuals 
who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the 
Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 twenty-four hours a day, 
every day of the year, including holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery.
    OMB Number: 0596-0226.
    Expiration Date of Approval: 4/30/2018.
    Type of Request: Extension without change of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Abstract: This information collection activity provides a means to 
garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, 
timely manner, in accordance with the Agency's commitment to improve 
service delivery. By qualitative feedback we mean information that 
provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not 
statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be 
generalized to the population of study.
    This feedback will provide insights into customer 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 Agency and its customers 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 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 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 noncontroversial 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 agency (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 
provides useful information, but it does 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 nonresponse 
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,

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and other matters that are commonly considered private.
    Type of Respondents: Individuals and Households, Business and 
Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Estimate of Burden per Response: 1 to 60 Minutes.
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 3,500,000.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 875,000 hours.
    Comment is Invited:
    Comment is invited on: (1) Whether this collection of information 
is necessary for the stated purposes and the proper performance of the 
functions of the agency, including whether the information will have 
practical or scientific utility; (2) the accuracy of the agency's 
estimate of the burden of the collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (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, including the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    All comments received in response to this notice, including names 
and addresses when provided, will be a matter of public record. 
Comments will be summarized and included in the submission request for 
Office of Management and Budget approval.

    Dated: October 25, 2017.
Robert Velasco,
Acting Deputy Chief, Business Operations.
[FR Doc. 2017-23700 Filed 10-30-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3411-15-P