[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 245 (Friday, December 22, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60698-60700]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27638]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service

[Docket No. FSIS-2017-0051]


Notice of Request for Revision of an Approved Information 
Collection (Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative 
Feedback on Agency Service Delivery)

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and 
Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to request a 
renewal of the approved information collection

[[Page 60699]]

regarding qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback on service 
delivery by the Food Safety and Inspection Service. There are no 
changes to the existing information collection; however, the Agency has 
reduced the burden estimate by 8,000 hours for upcoming qualitative 
surveys and food safety education research. The approval for this 
information collection will expire on May 31, 2018.

DATES: Submit comments on or before February 20, 2018.

ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on this 
information collection. Comments may be submitted by one of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: This website provides the 
ability to type short comments directly into the comment field on this 
web page or attach a file for lengthier comments. Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions at that site for 
submitting comments.
     Mail, including CD-ROMs, etc.: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Docket 
Clerk, Patriots Plaza 3, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 3782, 
Room 8-163A, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
     Hand- or courier-delivered submittals: Deliver to Patriots 
Plaza 3, 355 E Street SW, Room 8-163A, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
    Instructions: All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must 
include the Agency name and docket number FSIS-2017-0051. Comments 
received in response to this docket will be made available for public 
inspection and posted without change, including any personal 
information, to http://www.regulations.gov.
    Docket: For access to background documents or comments received, go 
to the FSIS Docket Room at Patriots Plaza 3, 355 E Street SW, Room 8-
164, Washington, DC 20250-3700 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gina Kouba, Office of Policy and 
Program Development, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, South Building, Washington, DC 
20250; (202)720-5627.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery.
    OMB Number: 0583-0151.
    Expiration Date of Approval: 05/31/2018.
    Type of Request: Revision of an approved information collection.
    Abstract: FSIS has been delegated the authority to exercise the 
functions of the Secretary (7 CFR 2.18, 2.53) as specified in the 
Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601, et seq.), the 
Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) (21 U.S.C. 451, et seq.), and 
the Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA) (21 U.S.C. 1031, et seq.). FSIS 
protects the public by verifying that meat, poultry, and egg products 
are safe, wholesome, not adulterated, and correctly labeled and 
packaged.
    FSIS is requesting a revision of the approved information 
collection regarding qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback on 
service delivery by the Food Safety and Inspection Service. There are 
no changes to the existing information collection; however, the Agency 
has reduced the burden estimate by 8,000 hours for upcoming qualitative 
surveys and food safety education research. The approval for this 
information collection will expire on May 31, 2018.
    The proposed information collection activity provides a means for 
the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to garner qualitative 
customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in 
accordance with the Agency's commitment to improving service delivery.
    By ``qualitative feedback,'' we mean information that provides 
useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but not a statistical 
survey that yields quantitative results that can be generalized to the 
population studied. Qualitative feedback provides insights into 
customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences, and expectations; 
provides an early warning of issues with the Agency's customer service; 
and focuses attention on matters with respect to which communication, 
training, or changes in operations might improve delivery of products 
or services. This collection will allow for ongoing, collaborative, and 
actionable communications between the Agency and its customers and 
stakeholders. It will also allow the feedback to contribute directly to 
the improvement of program management.
    The solicitation of qualitative feedback will target topics 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.
    FSIS 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 had experience with the program, or who 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; as a general matter, this 
information collection will not result in any new system of records 
containing privacy information and will not involve questions of a 
sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious 
beliefs, or other matters that are commonly considered private;
    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 FSIS (if released, FSIS will indicate 
the qualitative nature of the information);
    Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially informing policy decisions; and
    Information gathered will yield qualitative information; the 
collection 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.
    Estimate of Burden: The public reporting burden for this collection 
of information is estimated to average .5 hours per response.
    Respondents: Individuals and households; businesses and 
organizations; State, local, or Tribal government.

[[Page 60700]]

    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 4,000.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses: 4,000.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 2,000 hours.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of 
public record. Copies of this information collection assessment can be 
obtained from Gina Kouba, Office of Policy and Program Development, 
Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, 1400 Independence SW, 6065, 
South Building, Washington, DC 20250; (202)720-5627.
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of FSIS's 
functions, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of FSIS's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and 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, including 
through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques, or other forms of 
information technology. Comments may be sent to both FSIS, at the 
addresses provided above, and the Desk Officer for Agriculture, Office 
of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
Washington, DC 20253.
    Responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of 
public record.

Additional Public Notification

    Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy 
development is important. Consequently, FSIS will announce this Federal 
Register publication on-line through the FSIS web page located at: 
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register.
    FSIS also will make copies of this publication available through 
the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to provide information 
regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations, Federal Register 
notices, FSIS public meetings, and other types of information that 
could affect or would be of interest to our constituents and 
stakeholders. The Update is available on the FSIS web page. Through the 
web page, FSIS is able to provide information to a much broader, more 
diverse audience. In addition, FSIS offers an email subscription 
service which provides automatic and customized access to selected food 
safety news and information. This service is available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe. Options range from recalls to export 
information, regulations, directives, and notices. Customers can add or 
delete subscriptions themselves, and have the option to password 
protect their accounts.

USDA Non-Discrimination Statement

    No agency, officer, or employee of the USDA shall, on the grounds 
of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual 
orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, 
income derived from a public assistance program, or political beliefs, 
exclude from participation in, deny the benefits of, or subject to 
discrimination any person in the United States under any program or 
activity conducted by the USDA.

How To File a Complaint of Discrimination

    To file a complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program 
Discrimination Complaint Form, which may be accessed online at http://www.ocio.usda.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2012/Complain_combined_6_8_12.pdf, or write a letter signed by you or your 
authorized representative.
    Send your completed complaint form or letter to USDA by mail, fax, 
or email:
    Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of 
Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410.
    Fax: (202) 690-7442.
    Email: [email protected].
    Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for 
communication (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), should contact 
USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).


    Done at Washington, DC, on December 19, 2017.
Paul Kiecker,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-27638 Filed 12-21-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P