[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 7, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69234-69235]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26476]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

U.S. Energy Information Administration


Agency Information Collection Proposed Extension

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of 
Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EIA invites public comment on the proposed three-year 
extension, without change, to the Generic Clearance for the Collection 
of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery, pursuant to the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This generic clearance enables EIA to 
collect customer and stakeholder feedback from the public on service 
delivery in an efficient and timely manner to ensure that EIA's 
programs effectively meet our customers' needs and to collect feedback 
on improving service delivery to the public.

DATES: EIA must receive all comments on this proposed information 
collection no later than February 7, 2022. If you anticipate any 
difficulties in submitting your comments by the deadline, contact the 
person listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice as soon as 
possible.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments electronically to Gerson Morales by email at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerson Morales, U.S. Energy 
Information Administration, telephone (202) 586-7077, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This information collection request 
contains:
    (1) OMB No.: 1905-0210;
    (2) Information Collection Request Title: Generic Clearance for the 
Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery;
    (3) Type of Request: Three-year extension without change;
    (4) Purpose: This information collection activity provides a means 
to collect qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an 
efficient timely manner, in accordance with the Administration's 
commitment to improving service delivery. Qualitative feedback means 
data that provide useful insights on perceptions and opinions but are 
not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be 
generalized to the population of the study. This feedback provides 
insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences, and 
expectations. It also provides an early warning of issues with service, 
or focuses attention on areas where communication, training or changes 
in operations might improve the accuracy of data report on survey 
instruments or the delivery of products or services. These collections 
allow 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. EIA 
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;
     Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions;
     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 
remuneration 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, EIA will submit an information 
collection request to OMB for approval through the normal PRA process. 
The solicitation of feedback on Agency Service Delivery includes topics 
such as: Timeliness of publishing, understanding of questions and 
terminology used in EIA products, perceptions on data confidentiality 
and security, appropriateness and relevancy of information published, 
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. Advances in technology and service delivery 
systems in the private sector, have increased the public's expectations 
of the Government's customer service promise. The Federal Government 
has a responsibility to streamline and make more efficient its service 
delivery to better serve the public.
    (5) Annual Estimated Number of Respondents: 80,600;
    (6) Annual Estimated Number of Total Responses: 80,600;
    (7) Annual Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 8,600;
    (8) Annual Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
$702,190 (8,600 annual burden hours multiplied by $81.65 per hour). EIA 
estimates that respondents will have no additional costs associated 
with the surveys other than the burden hours and the maintenance of the 
information during the normal course of business.
    Comments are invited on whether or not: (a) The proposed collection 
of information is necessary for the proper performance of agency 
functions, including whether the information will have a practical 
utility; (b) EIA's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used, is accurate; (c) EIA can improve the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information it will collect; and (d) EIA can minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, such as 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Statutory Authority: Executive Order 12,862 (1993) and Executive 
Order 13,571 (2011).


[[Page 69235]]


    Signed in Washington, DC, on December 2, 2021.
Samson A. Adeshiyan,
Director, Office of Statistical Methods and Research, U.S. Energy 
Information Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-26476 Filed 12-6-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P