[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 137 (Tuesday, July 19, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43005-43006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15360]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; 
Improving Knowledge About NWS Forecaster Core Partner Needs for 
Reducing Vulnerability to Compound Threats in Landfalling Tropical 
Cyclones Amid COVID-19

AGENCY: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of information collection, request for comment.

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

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information 
collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information 
collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment 
preceding submission of the collection to OMB.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed 
information collection must be received on or before September 19, 
2022.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments to 
Adrienne Thomas, NOAA PRA Officer, at [email protected]. Please 
reference OMB Control Number 0648-xxxx in the subject line of your 
comments. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise 
sensitive or protected information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed 
to Nicole Kurkowski, R2O Team Lead, DOC/NOAA/NWS/OSTI, 1325 East West 
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301.427.9104, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract

    This is a request for a new collection of information.
    The data collection is sponsored by DOC/NOAA/National Weather 
Service (NWS)/Office of Science and Technology Integration (OSTI). 
Compound hazards, like tornadoes and flash floods (called TORFFs), are 
a significant issue for risk communication and are common in 
landfalling tropical cyclones. Currently, NOAA lacks data and data 
collection instruments that articulate and explain how emergency 
managers and broadcast meteorologists receive, interpret, and respond 
to NWS prediction information about these compound hazards before and 
during landfalling tropical cyclones, like Hurricane Ida. Furthermore, 
NOAA lacks adequate knowledge about how these risks are best 
communicated during COVID-19, when it is important for those who are 
most vulnerable to adjudicate their risks of exposure to both severe 
weather and COVID-19. Such knowledge about compound weather hazards 
would be particularly useful for NWS forecasters who communicate risk 
information to their colleagues in emergency management and broadcast 
meteorology (hereafter ``partners''), especially when information about 
sheltering practices, evacuation, and vulnerability can be complicated 
by exposure to public health threats and bilingual needs.
    Without this type of information about how partners grapple with 
the communication of compound hazards amid the pandemic, NOAA, and 
specifically the NWS, cannot determine if it has met its mission of 
saving lives and property, propose societal impact performance metrics, 
nor demonstrate if progress or improvements have been made, as outlined 
in the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017. This 
effort aims to advance the goal to collaborate across sectors on 
``research necessary to enhance the integration of social science 
knowledge into weather forecast and warning processes, including to 
improve the communication of threat information necessary to enable 
improved severe weather planning and decision making on the part of 
individuals and communities (Pub. L. 115-25)''. This work addresses 
NOAA's 5-year Research and Development Vision Areas (2020-2026) Section 
1.4 (FACETs). This effort also advances the NWS Strategic Plan (2019-
2022) ``Transformative Impact-

[[Page 43006]]

Based Decision Support Services (IDSS) and Research to Operations and 
Operations to Research (R2O/O2R)'' with specific attention to Goal 1, 
sections 1.1, 1.2, 1.5, 1.13 and Goal 3, sections 3.6 and 3.8. 
Furthermore, data collected with NWS partners furthers the NWS Weather 
Ready Nation (WRN) Roadmap (2013) Sections 1.1.10, and 1.2.2.
    Two types of data--interviews and surveys--will be collected by 
researchers at Texas Tech University's Risk and Equity in Disasters 
(RED) Lab and at Texas A&M. They have begun to develop data collection 
instruments that will allow them to gather risk information from both 
English and Spanish speaking partners. These instruments are being 
created in collaboration with experts in emergency management and 
broadcast meteorology through the Board on Emergency Management and the 
Board on Professional Development within the American Meteorological 
Society. This helps assure the appropriateness of questions relative to 
different decision spaces, job roles, and communication processes.
    This data collection serves many purposes, including building 
knowledge of how partners attend to, make sense of, and communicate 
compound hazards, as well as challenges they face in identifying 
vulnerable populations to severe weather in the context of COVID-19. 
This data may be used by the NWS training centers in Norman, OK, and 
Kansas City, MO, to inform their practices for Impact-Based Decision 
Support Services (IDSS) and to improve the information and services it 
provides to members of the Weather Enterprise. Specifically, data 
collected will help NWS develop new forecaster training modules, 
situational awareness strategies, and best practices for IDSS with 
partners. This research-to-operations application of knowledge is a 
necessary step in improving risk communication among expert groups, 
which, in turn, benefits vulnerable populations who ultimately must act 
quickly and safely to adjudicate which risks pose the greatest threat 
to them as the threats evolve.

II. Method of Collection

    The primary methods of data collection for this study will be 
virtual or in-person semi-structured interviews (COVID-19 restriction 
dependent) with partners for a case study of TORFFs in the first year 
of the grant (2021-2022, or Phase 1) followed by a national online 
survey of partners in the second year (2022-2023, or Phase 2). For 
Phase 1, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with partners in 
local areas impacted by a recent hurricane with embedded TORFF hazards, 
such as Hurricane Ida and its remnants. Questions will focus on risk 
assessment, risk communication, and vulnerability within the context of 
a pandemic. Convenience sampling will be used based on those areas that 
experienced TORFF warnings, as verified by sources like the Iowa 
Environmental Mesonet, and internet searches of news stories about 
TORFF impacts. For Phase 2, a national online survey will be designed 
and fielded after interview data have been analyzed. Results from Phase 
1 will be used to guide survey design, including sampling strategy and 
sampling frame. Survey questions will reflect findings and elicit 
information about compound hazard risk communication and vulnerability 
for the same population. The survey will be designed with assistance 
from a consulting service (e.g., Qualtrics) and suggestions from 
collaborators from public safety. Interview guides and survey questions 
will be translated into and conducted in Spanish, where appropriate.
    Respondents will include adults (age 18+) who reside in the United 
States, recruited through emails and phone calls to partners in areas 
impacted by TORFFs embedded in landfalling tropical cyclones. Contact 
information for respondents is publicly available and will be obtained 
both by internet searches and, when needed, with the assistance of 
local NWS Weather Forecast Office staff to identify appropriate 
participants in emergency management and broadcast media markets. For 
interviews, emails and phone calls will be used to recruit participants 
and coordinate interviews via Zoom or other video platform; interviews 
may also be conducted in person, depending on local COVID restrictions. 
Survey respondents will likewise be contacted through email and 
directed to an online survey. NWS staff may assist in facilitating 
email introductions to their partners for interview requests and to 
help distribute survey links to ensure sufficient response rates. Our 
collaborators with the American Meteorological Society and the National 
Weather Association will also help us identify outreach approaches to 
recruit participants (e.g., social media and message boards) and ensure 
sufficient response rates.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0648-XXXX.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Review: Regular (New information collection).
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations; State, 
Local, or Tribal government; Federal government.
    Estimated Number of Respondents for interviews for Interviews: 30.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 1 hour per respondent.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours for Interviews: 30.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: None.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: 15 U.S.C. Ch. 111, Weather Research and 
Forecasting Information.

IV. Request for Comments

    We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau 
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is 
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy 
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed 
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden 
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2022-15360 Filed 7-18-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-KE-P