[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 41 (Thursday, March 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13224-13226]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04299]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2023-0002-N-03]


Proposed Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment 
Request

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) and its 
implementing regulations, FRA will seek approval of the Information 
Collection Request (ICR) abstracted

[[Page 13225]]

below. Before submitting this ICR to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for approval, FRA is soliciting public comment on specific 
aspects of the activities identified in the ICR.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
May 1, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed ICR 
should be submitted on regulations.gov to the docket, Docket No. FRA-
2023-0002. All comments received will be posted without change to the 
docket, including any personal information provided. Please refer to 
the assigned OMB control number (2130-0593) in any correspondence 
submitted. FRA will summarize comments received in response to this 
notice in a subsequent notice and include them in its information 
collection submission to OMB for approval.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Arlette Mussington, Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, at email: [email protected] or 
telephone: (571) 609-1285 or Ms. Joanne Swafford, Information 
Collection Clearance Officer, at email: [email protected] or 
telephone: (757) 897-9908.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, and its 
implementing regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, require Federal agencies to 
provide 60-days' notice to the public to allow comment on information 
collection activities before seeking OMB approval of the activities. 
See 44 U.S.C. 3506, 3507; 5 CFR 1320.8-1320.12. Specifically, FRA 
invites interested parties to comment on the following ICR regarding: 
(1) whether the information collection activities are necessary for FRA 
to properly execute its functions, including whether the activities 
will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of FRA's estimates of the 
burden of the information collection activities, including the validity 
of the methodology and assumptions used to determine the estimates; (3) 
ways for FRA to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information being collected; and (4) ways for FRA to minimize the 
burden of information collection activities on the public, including 
the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology. See 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A); 5 CFR 
1320.8(d)(1).
    FRA believes that soliciting public comment may reduce the 
administrative and paperwork burdens associated with the collection of 
information that Federal statutes and regulations mandate. In summary, 
FRA reasons that comments received will advance three objectives: (1) 
reduce reporting burdens; (2) organize information collection 
requirements in a ``user-friendly'' format to improve the use of such 
information; and (3) accurately assess the resources expended to 
retrieve and produce information requested. See 44 U.S.C. 3501.
    The summary below describes the ICR that FRA will submit for OMB 
clearance as the PRA requires:
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service.
    OMB Control Number: 2130-0593.
    Abstract: This collection of information is necessary to enable FRA 
to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely 
manner, consistent with its commitment to improving service delivery. 
The information collected from FRA's customers and stakeholders will 
help ensure users have an effective, efficient, and satisfying 
experience with FRA's programs. This feedback will provide insights 
into customer and stakeholder perceptions, experiences and 
expectations, provide an early indicator of issues with service, and 
focus attention on areas where communication, training or changes in 
operations might improve delivery of products or services. This 
collection will allow ongoing, collaborative, and actionable 
communications between FRA and its customers and stakeholders. It also 
allows feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program 
management. If this information is not collected, vital feedback from 
customers and stakeholders on FRA's services will be unavailable.
    Improving FRA's programs requires ongoing assessment of service 
delivery. FRA will collect, analyze, and interpret information gathered 
through this generic clearance to identify strengths and weaknesses of 
current services and make improvements to service delivery based on 
feedback. The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: 
timeliness, appropriateness, information accuracy, courtesy, service 
delivery efficiency, and issue resolution. FRA will assess responses in 
order to plan and inform efforts seeking to improve the quality of 
service offered to the public.
    FRA will only submit a collection for approval under this generic 
clearance under the following conditions:
     The information gathered is only used internally for 
general service improvement and program management purposes and is not 
intended for public release;
     The information gathered is not used to substantially 
inform significant policy decisions;
     The information gathered will yield qualitative 
information; FRA will not design the collection or expect it to yield 
statistically reliable results or use it as though the results are 
generalizable to the study population;
     Participation in the collection is voluntary;
     The collection is low-burden for respondents (based on 
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or 
burden-hours per respondent) and is low-cost for both the respondents 
and the Federal Government;
     The collection is non-controversial and does not raise 
issues of concern to other Federal agencies;
     The collection is directed to the solicitation of opinions 
from respondents who have experience with the OMB program or may have 
experience with the OMB program soon after receiving the collection; 
and
     With the exception of information needed to provide 
remuneration for focus group participants and cognitive laboratory 
studies, personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to 
the extent necessary and is not retained by FRA.
    FRA increased the estimated paperwork burden by 121 hours, from 354 
hours (current inventory) to 4475 hours (requesting inventory). The 
increased burden is due to changes in FRA's organizational structure 
and additional interactions with stakeholders as a result of continued 
implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 
statutorily required programs.
    Type of Request: Extension without change (revised estimates) of a 
currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and 
Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Governments.
    Form(s): N/A.
    Respondent Universe: 5,750.
    Frequency of Submission: Once per request.
    Reporting Burden:

[[Page 13226]]



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                                                                                   Average time
           CFR section               Respondent        Total annual responses      per response    Total annual
                                      universe                                       (minutes)     burden hours
                                              (A)                                            (B)     (C = A * B)
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1. Surveys, comment cards,                    350  Annual, periodically.........              10           58.33
 interviews, focus groups, and
 web-based technologies for
 Customer Service Satisfaction
 and Delivery for the Office of
 the Administrator.
2. Surveys, comment cards,                    350  Annual, periodically.........              10           58.33
 interviews, focus groups, and
 web-based technologies for
 Customer Service Satisfaction
 and Delivery for the Office of
 Railroad Safety.
3. Surveys, comment cards,                    350  Annual, periodically.........              10           58.33
 interviews, focus groups, and
 web-based technologies for
 Customer Service Satisfaction
 and Delivery for the Office of
 Research, Data, and Innovation.
4. Surveys, comment cards,                    350  Annual, periodically.........              10           58.33
 interviews, focus groups, and
 web-based technologies for
 Customer Service Satisfaction
 and Delivery for the Office of
 Railroad Development.
5. Surveys, comment cards,                    350  Annual, periodically.........              10           58.33
 interviews, focus groups, and
 web-based technologies for
 Customer Service Satisfaction
 and Delivery for the Office of
 the Chief Financial Officer.
6. Web-based technologies for               3,500  Annual, periodically.........               1           58.33
 Customer Service Satisfaction
 and Delivery related to the
 improvement of webinar-based
 stakeholder engagement for the
 Office of Railroad Development.
7. Surveys, comment cards,                    500  Annual, periodically.........              15             125
 interviews, focus groups, and
 web-based technologies for
 Customer Service Satisfaction
 and Delivery related to the
 improvement of stakeholder
 capacity building and training
 resources for the Office of
 Railroad Development.
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    Total \1\....................           5,750  Annual, periodically.........             N/A             475
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    Total Estimated Annual Responses: 5,750.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden: 475 hours.
    FRA informs all interested parties that it may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, a collection 
of information that does not display a currently valid OMB control 
number.\1\
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    \1\ Totals may not add due to rounding.
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    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.

Brett A. Jortland,
Deputy Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2023-04299 Filed 3-1-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P