[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 165 (Monday, August 30, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48463-48464]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18652]



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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD


30-Day Notice of Intent To Seek Reinstatement Without Change: 
Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency 
Service Delivery

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.
SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, 
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-
3521 (PRA), the Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) gives 
notice that it is requesting from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) a reinstatement without change of Generic Clearance for the 
Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery. This 
collection was developed as part of a Federal Government-wide effort to 
streamline the process for seeking feedback from the public on the 
Board's service delivery. The Board previously published a notice about 
this collection in the Federal Register (June 24, 2021). That notice 
allowed for a 60-day public review and comment period. No comments were 
received.

DATES: Comments on this information collection should be submitted by 
September 29, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be identified as ``Paperwork 
Reduction Act Comments, Surface Transportation Board: Generic Clearance 
for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service 
Delivery.'' Written comments for the proposed information collection 
should be submitted via www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. This 
information collection can be accessed by selecting ``Currently under 
Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. As 
an alternative, written comments may be directed to the Office of 
Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Attention: Michael J. McManus, Surface Transportation Board Desk 
Officer: via email at [email protected]; by fax at (202) 395-
1743; or by mail to Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 
20503.
    Please also direct comments to Chris Oehrle, PRA Officer, Surface 
Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001 and to 
[email protected]. For further information regarding this collection, contact 
Michael Higgins, Deputy Director, Office of Public Assistance, 
Governmental Affairs (OPAGAC), and Compliance, at (202) 245-0284 or 
[email protected]. Assistance for the hearing impaired is 
available through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For each collection, comments are requested 
concerning: (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. 
Submitted comments will be summarized and included in the Board's 
request for OMB approval.

Description of Collection

    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery.
    OMB Control Number: 2140-0019.
    STB Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Extension without change.
    Respondents: Customers and stakeholders of the Board.
    Number of Respondents, Frequency, Estimated Time Per Response, and 
Total Burden Hours: A variety of instruments and platforms may be used 
to collect information from respondents. The estimated annual burden 
hours (277) are based on the number of collections we expect to conduct 
over the requested period for this clearance, as set forth in the table 
below.

                                        Estimated Annual Reporting Burden
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                                                                      Annual
               Type of collection                    Number of     frequency per     Hours per      Total hours
                                                    respondents      response        response
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Focus Group.....................................              15               1               2              30
Comment Card/Brief Survey.......................             200               2             .17              67
Surveys.........................................             150               2              .6             180
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    Needs and Uses: The proposed information collection activity 
provides a means to garner qualitative customer and stakeholder 
feedback in an efficient and timely manner, in accordance with the 
Administration's commitment to improving service delivery. By 
qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful insights 
on perceptions and opinions, but 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 
with issues about how the Board provides service to the public; 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 Board and its customers and stakeholders. 
They 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

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quality of service offered to the public. If this information is not 
collected, vital feedback from customers and stakeholders on the 
Board's services will be unavailable.
    The Board will only process a collection 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 is collected only to 
the extent necessary and is not retained;
     information gathered is used only internally for general 
service improvement and program management purposes and not for release 
outside of the agency;
     information gathered is used for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions; and
     information gathered will yield qualitative information, 
and 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 will provide useful 
information, but will not yield data that can be generalized to the 
overall population. Such data uses would require more rigorous designs 
than the collections covered by this notice.
    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, and other matters that are commonly considered 
private.
    Under the PRA, a federal agency that conducts or sponsors a 
collection of information must display a currently valid OMB control 
number. A collection of information, which is defined in 44 U.S.C. 
3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c), includes agency requirements that persons 
submit reports, keep records, or provide information to the agency, 
third parties, or the public. Section 3507(b) of the PRA requires, 
concurrent with an agency's submitting a collection to OMB for 
approval, a 30-day notice and comment period through publication in the 
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available 
to the public by the Board. 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 
electronic comment (e-file or email), your email address is 
automatically captured and may be accessed if your comments are made 
public. 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.

    Dated: August 24, 2021.
Tammy Lowery,
Clearance Clerk.
[FR Doc. 2021-18652 Filed 8-27-21; 8:45 am]
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