[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 186 (Wednesday, September 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53975-53977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21178]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY


Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on 
Agency Service Delivery, 1601-0014

AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security, (DHS).

ACTION: 30-Day notice and request for comments; extension without 
change of a currently approved Collection, 1601-0014.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security, will submit the following 
Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. DHS previously published this information 
collection request (ICR) in the Federal Register on Thursday, May 27, 
2021 at for a 60-day public comment period. There were no comments 
received by DHS. The purpose of this notice is to allow additional 30-
days for public comments.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until October 29, 
2021. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.1.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by electing ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive Order 12862 directs Federal 
agencies to provide service to the public that matches or exceeds the 
best service available in the private sector. In order to work 
continuously to ensure that our programs are effective and meet our 
customers' needs, Department of Homeland Security (hereafter ``the 
Agency'') seeks to obtain OMB approval of a generic clearance to 
collect qualitative feedback on our service delivery. By qualitative 
feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on 
perceptions and opinions but are not statistical surveys that yield

[[Page 53976]]

quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of 
study.
    This collection of information is necessary to enable the Agency to 
garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely 
manner, in accordance with our commitment to improving service 
delivery. The information collected from our customers and stakeholders 
will help ensure that users have an effective, efficient, and 
satisfying experience with the Agency's programs. 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.
    Improving agency programs requires ongoing assessment of service 
delivery, by which we mean systematic review of the operation of a 
program compared to a set of explicit or implicit standards, as a means 
of contributing to the continuous improvement of the program. The 
Agency will collect, analyze, and interpret information gathered 
through this generic clearance to identify strengths and weaknesses of 
current services and make improvements in service delivery based on 
feedback. 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:
     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 (if released, procedures 
outlined in Question 16 will be followed);
     Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions; \1\
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    \1\ As defined in OMB and agency Information Quality Guidelines, 
``influential'' means that ``an agency can reasonably determine that 
dissemination of the information will have or does have a clear and 
substantial impact on important public policies or important private 
sector decisions.''
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     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;
     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; and
     With the exception of information needed to provide 
renumeration for participants of focus groups and cognitive laboratory 
studies, personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to 
the extent necessary and is not retained.
    If these conditions are not met, the Agency will submit an 
information collection request to OMB for approval through the normal 
PRA process.
    To obtain approval for a collection that meets the conditions of 
this generic clearance, a standardized form will be submitted to OMB 
along with supporting documentation (e.g., a copy of the comment card). 
The submission will have automatic approval, unless OMB identifies 
issues within 5 business days.
    The types of collections that this generic clearance covers 
include, but are not limited to:

 Customer comment cards/complaint forms
 Small discussion groups
 Focus Groups of customers, potential customers, delivery 
partners, or other stakeholders
 Cognitive laboratory studies, such as those used to refine 
questions or assess usability of a website;
 Qualitative customer satisfaction surveys (e.g., post-
transaction surveys; opt-out web surveys)
 In-person observation testing (e.g., website or software 
usability tests)

    The Agency has established a manager/managing entity to serve for 
this generic clearance and will conduct an independent review of each 
information collection to ensure compliance with the terms of this 
clearance prior to submitting each collection to OMB.
    If appropriate, agencies will collect information electronically 
and/or use online collaboration tools to reduce burden.
    Small business or other small entities may be involved in these 
efforts, but the Agency will minimize the burden on them of information 
collections approved under this clearance by sampling, asking for 
readily available information, and using short, easy-to-complete 
information collection instruments.
    Without these types of feedback, the Agency will not have timely 
information to adjust its services to meet customer needs.
    If a confidentiality pledge is deemed useful and feasible, the 
Agency will only include a pledge of confidentiality that is supported 
by authority established in statute or regulation, that is supported by 
disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the 
pledge, and that does not unnecessarily impede sharing of data with 
other agencies for compatible confidential use. If the agency includes 
a pledge of confidentiality, it will include a citation for the statute 
or regulation supporting the pledge.
    There is no change in the information being collected. There is no 
change to the burden associated with this collection.
    The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in 
comments which:
    1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submissions of responses.

[[Page 53977]]

    Analysis:
    Agency: Department of Homeland Security, (DHS).
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery.
    OMB Number: 1601-0014.
    Frequency: On Occasion.
    Affected Public: Private Sector.
    Number of Respondents: 184,902.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 1 Hour.
    Total Burden Hours: 300,000.

Robert Dorr,
Executive Director, Business Management Directorate.
[FR Doc. 2021-21178 Filed 9-28-21; 8:45 am]
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