80 FR 80384 - Proposed Information Collection: National Park Service Centennial National Household Survey

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
National Park Service

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 247 (December 24, 2015)

We (National Park Service) will ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve an information collection (IC) concerning a national household survey that will be used to help determine the perceptions of the American public regarding the national park system. The collection will include no more than 40 cognitive interviews to refine survey questions and a final survey instrument based on the findings from those interviews. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. We 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.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 247 (Thursday, December 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80384-80385]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32420]


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DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NRSS-EQD-SSB-20006; PPWONRADE3, PPMRSNR1Y.NM0000]


Proposed Information Collection: National Park Service Centennial 
National Household Survey

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We (National Park Service) will ask the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) to approve an information collection (IC) concerning a 
national household survey that will be used to help determine the 
perceptions of the American public regarding the national park system. 
The collection will include no more than 40 cognitive interviews to 
refine survey questions and a final survey instrument based on the 
findings from those interviews. As required by the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork 
and respondent burden, we invite the general public and other federal 
agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC. We 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.

DATES: To ensure that your comments on this IC are considered, we must 
receive them on or before February 22, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments on this IC to Phadrea Ponds, 
Information Collection Coordinator, National Park Service, 1201 
Oakridge Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525 (mail); or [email protected] 
(email). Please reference Information Collection 1024-0254--National 
Household Survey in the subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bret Meldrum, Chief, Social Science 
Program, National Park Service, 1201 Oakridge Drive, Fort Collins, CO 
80525 (mail); or [email protected] (email); and Steve Lawson, Senior 
Director, Public Plans Planning and Management, RSG, 55 Railroad Row, 
White River Junction, VT 05001 (mail); or [email protected] (email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    On August 25, 2006--the 90th anniversary of the National Park 
Service (NPS)--Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne launched the 
National Park Centennial Initiative to prepare national parks for 
another century of conservation, preservation and enjoyment. Since then 
we have asked citizens, park partners, experts and other stakeholders 
what they envisioned for a second century of national parks. In 
celebration of our 100th anniversary in 2016, and to keep up with the 
initiative, we are proposing a national household survey to assess the 
quality of services available to the American public provided by the 
national parks. This survey will be used to assess the values and 
perceptions of both visitors and non-visitors needed to understand, 
sustain and enhance the relevancy of the national park system in an 
increasingly multicultural society.
    We acknowledge that there are traditional in-park surveys of 
visitors at selected National Parks within the system each year; 
however, these park specific surveys cannot provide the

[[Page 80385]]

baseline information on a national level needed to capture the points 
of view of both visitors and non-visitors to national parks.
    We will pre-test the survey questions by conducting cognitive 
interviews of no more than 40 people in order to test and refine the 
final survey instrument. This will be a nationwide telephone survey 
using a dual sampling frame to include random-digit dial (RDD) land 
line and cell phone numbers. The survey will also include five to seven 
questions that will be used to evaluate youth engagement. Parental 
consent will be required before interviewing children/teens between the 
ages of 12 to 17.
    The information obtained from this collection will serve as a 
benchmark to describe the breadth of uses and patterns of involvement 
with agency offerings beyond traditional park visits that will extend 
into the next century.

II. Data

    OMB Number: 1024-0254.
    Title: National Park Service Centennial National Household Survey.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement.
    Affected Public: General public and individual households in the 
seven National Park Service administrative regions.
    Respondent Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: One-time.
    Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 3,540 (40 cognitive 
interviews and 3,500 completed telephone surveys).
    Annual Burden Hours: 40 hours for cognitive interviews (10 minutes 
per interview) and 1,050 hours for telephone surveys (18 minutes per 
survey)--Total 1,090 hours.
    Estimated Reporting and Recordkeeping ``Non-Hour Cost'' Burden: We 
have not identified any ``non-hour cost'' burdens associated with this 
collection of information.

III. Request for Comments

    We invite comments concerning this information collection on:
     The practical utility of the information being gathered;
     The accuracy of the burden for this collection of 
information;
     Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents.
    Please note that the comments submitted 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 IC. 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 OMB in your comment 
to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, 
we cannot guarantee that we will be to do so.

    Dated: December 18, 2015.
Madonna L. Baucum,
Information Collection Clearance Officer, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-32420 Filed 12-23-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-EH-P