[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 121 (Friday, June 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37814-37815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13504]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--FNS Generic Clearance for the FNS Fast Track Clearance 
for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback

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 a revision 
of a currently approved collection to collect qualitative customer and 
stakeholder feedback in an efficient and timely manner with an 
accompanying increase in burden hours. An additional example of the 
type of information collection that this generic clearance covers has 
been included.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before August 23, 2022.

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 Jamia Franklin and Maureen Lydon, Planning 
and Regulatory Affairs Office, Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 5th floor, Alexandria, 
VA 22314. Comments may also be sent via email to 
[email protected] and [email protected]. 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 Jamia 
Franklin at (703) 305-2403 or via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: FNS Generic Clearance for the FNS Fast Track Clearance for 
the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback.
    OMB Number: 0584-0611.
    Expiration Date: September 30, 2022.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved information 
collection request.
    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 opinion 
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 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

[[Page 37815]]

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 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. This includes but is not limited to 
customer feedback surveys, comment cards, focus groups, and quick 
census or surveys obtaining customer feedback on a variety of Food and 
Nutrition Service (FNS) programs or portions thereof including the 
Child Nutrition (CN) program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program (SNAP), Food Distribution Programs, nutrition policy and 
promotion, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, 
Infants and Children and any associated challenges in implementing 
programs or subsets of programs. The annual burden hours requested 
(670,000) are based on the number of collections we could conduct over 
the requested period for this clearance.

                                        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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Customer Feedback Surveys.......................          15,000               2               1          30,000
Comment Cards...................................           7,500               2               1          15,000
Focus Groups....................................           7,500               2               1          15,000
Quick census or surveys.........................         305,000               2               1         610,000
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    Total.......................................         335,000               2               1         670,000
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Annual Reporting Burden Estimates

    Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and 
Organizations, State, Local and/or Tribal Government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 335,000.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: 2.
    Estimated Annual responses: 670,000.
    Estimated time per response: Up to 60 minutes.
    Burden hours: 670,000.

Cynthia Long,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-13504 Filed 6-23-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P