[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 75 (Thursday, April 18, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16239-16240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-07811]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 75 / Thursday, April 18, 2019 / 
Notices  

[[Page 16239]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


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

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment 
on this proposed information collection. This collection is an 
extension, without change, of a currently approved collection to 
collect qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient 
and timely manner. The Food and Nutrition Service created this generic 
information collection in 2016 as part of a Federal Government-wide 
effort to streamline the process for seeking feedback from the public 
on service delivery.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before June 17, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the proposed collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of the Agency's 
functions, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the proposed 
information collection burden, 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 those who are 
to respond, including use of appropriate automated, electronic, 
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms 
of information technology.
    Comments may be sent to Kelly Stewart, Planning & Regulatory 
Affairs Office, Office of Policy Support, 3101 Park Center Drive, 
Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments will also be accepted through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov, and 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. All 
comments will also become a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of this information collection should be directed to Kelly 
Stewart, Planning & Regulatory Affairs Office, Office of Policy 
Support, 3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22302; 703-305-2425.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery (Fast Track).
    OMB Number: 0584-0611.
    Expiration Date: September 30, 2019.
    Type of Request: Extension, without change, of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Abstract: The proposed information collection activity provides a 
means to garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an 
efficient and timely manner. By ``qualitative feedback,'' we mean 
information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, 
but are not statistical surveys yielding quantitative results that can 
be generalized to the population. This feedback will continue to, (1) 
provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences 
and expectations, (2) provide an early warning of issues with service 
and, (3) focus attention on areas where communication, training or 
changes in operations might improve delivery of products or services. 
This collection allows for ongoing, collaborative and actionable 
communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders. 
It also allows feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of 
program management.
    The solicitation of feedback targets areas such as: Timeliness, 
appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of 
service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. 
Responses are 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 continue to 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 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 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; 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 usage 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

[[Page 16240]]

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 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 do not result in any new system of records 
containing privacy information and does not ask questions of a 
sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious 
beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.
    A variety of instruments and platforms are used to collect 
information from respondents. The annual burden hours requested 
(30,000) are based on the number of collections we expect to conduct 
over the requested period for this clearance.

                                        Estimated Annual Reporting Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      Annual
               Type of collection                    Number of     frequency per     Hours per      Total hours
                                                    respondents      response        response
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Customer Feedback Surveys.......................          15,000               1               1          15,000
Comment Cards...................................           7,500               1               1           7,500
Focus Groups....................................           7,500               1               1           7,500
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................          30,000               1               1          30,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annual Reporting Burden Estimates

    Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and 
Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 30,000.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Annual responses: 30,000.
    Estimated time per response: 60 minutes.
    Burden hours: 30,000.

    Dated: March 29, 2019.
Brandon Lipps,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-07811 Filed 4-17-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-30-P