[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 206 (Friday, October 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67558-67559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-23499]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-HQ-NWRS-2020-N096; FXRS126109HD000-201-FF09R23000; OMB Control
Number 1018-New]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Programmatic
Clearance for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Social Science Research
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, we, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are proposing a new information
collection.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
November 23, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments and suggestions on the information
collection requirements to the Desk Officer for the Department of the
Interior at OMB-OIRA at (202) 395-5806 (fax) or
OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov (email). Please provide a copy of your
comments to the Service Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB (JAO/3W), 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls
Church, VA 22041-3803 (mail); or by email to Info_Coll@fws.gov. Please
reference OMB Control Number ``1018-Programmatic'' in the subject line
of your comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madonna L. Baucum, Service Information
Collection Clearance Officer, by email at Info_Coll@fws.gov, or by
telephone at (703) 358-2503. Individuals who are hearing or speech
impaired may call the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY
assistance. You may also view the ICR at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), we
provide the general public and other Federal agencies with an
opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and continuing
collections of information. This helps us assess the impact of our
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting
burden. It also helps the public understand our information collection
requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format.
On April 17, 2020, we published in the Federal Register (86 FR
21450) a notice of our intent to request that OMB approve this
information collection. In that notice, we solicited comments for 60
days, ending on June 16, 2020. No comments were received in response to
that notice.
As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we are again soliciting comments from the public and other
Federal agencies on the proposed ICR that is described below. We are
especially interested in public comment addressing the following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of information is necessary for
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether or not the information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the burden for this collection
of information, 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) How might the agency 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 submission of response.
Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of
public record. 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 can 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.
Abstract: Improving customer experience with Federal services is
part of the President's Management Agenda (OMB Circular A-11, Section
280, ``Managing Customer Experience and Improving Service Delivery'').
The collection of information is necessary to enable the Service to
garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely
manner, in accordance with our commitment to improving service
delivery. Additionally, this new programmatic clearance is needed in
order to be more responsive to Secretarial Orders 3356 (hunting and
fishing opportunities), 3362 (big game habitat), and 3366 (outdoor
recreation). This proposed new collection of information will also
allow the Service to improve customer service delivery and response.
This is important because OMB Circular A-11 designates the Service as a
High-Impact Service Provider.
The programmatic clearance applies to social science surveys,
interviews, and focus groups designed to provide information to Service
managers and practitioners to improve quality and utility of agency
programs, services, and planning efforts. To ensure continuous
improvement, Service activities and projects require ongoing systematic
assessment of their design, implementation, and outcomes. Data from
collections undertaken through the proposed programmatic clearance
would provide information for planning, monitoring, and evaluating
National Wildlife Refuge System efforts as well as efforts of other
Service programs. The scope of this programmatic clearance includes
individual surveys, focus groups, and interviews of refuge visitors,
potential visitors, and residents of communities near Service-managed
units, and stakeholders and partners, including tribal interests.
To qualify for the generic programmatic review process, survey
questions must show a clear tie to Service management needs. The
programmatic review may only be used for noncontroversial information
collections that are unlikely to attract or include topics of
significant public interest. We must obtain OMB approval of all surveys
developed using the pre-approved suite of questions before the survey
can be initiated. This suite of questions will be used to develop
customer experience and satisfaction surveys to meet requirements of
OMB Circular A-11, as well as commitments to respond to the above-named
Secretarial Orders.
[[Page 67559]]
Title of Collection: Programmatic Clearance for U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service Social Science Research.
OMB Control Number: 1018-New.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: New.
Respondents/Affected Public: Persons visiting units managed by the
Service; potential visitors, including ``virtual visitors'' who access
content from a Service website; local community members; educators
taking part in programs both on and off Service lands; government
officials representing the local area; landowners; partners;
stakeholders; and tribal interests.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
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Annual estimates
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Completion
Mode Number of time per Burden Hours
respondents response (avg. **
minutes)
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On-site, mail, internet surveys *............................... 20,333 20 6,778
Telephone surveys............................................... 833 25 347
All non-response surveys........................................ 784 5 65
Focus groups/In-person interviews............................... 59 60 59
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Annual Total................................................ 22,009 .............. 7,249
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3 Year Total................................................ 66,027 .............. 21,747
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* Includes 2-minute contact time for some surveys, interviews, and focus groups, and approximately 2,500
electronic surveys.
** All figures are rounded.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a person is not required
to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Dated: October 20, 2020.
Madonna Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-23499 Filed 10-22-20; 8:45 am]
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