82 FR 14674 - Information Collection; Interagency Generic Clearance for Federal Land Management Agencies Collaborative Visitor Feedback Surveys on Recreation and Transportation Related Programs and Systems

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 54 (March 22, 2017)

Page Range		14674-14675
FR Document		2017-05653

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations on the renewal of an information collection, Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs) Collaborative Visitor Transportation Information Collections.

Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 54 (Wednesday, March 22, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 22, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14674-14675]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05653]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Information Collection; Interagency Generic Clearance for Federal 
Land Management Agencies Collaborative Visitor Feedback Surveys on 
Recreation and Transportation Related Programs and Systems

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; request for comment.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 
Forest Service is seeking comments from all interested individuals and 
organizations on the renewal of an information collection, Federal Land 
Management Agencies (FLMAs) Collaborative Visitor Transportation 
Information Collections.

DATES: Comments must be received in writing on or before May 22, 2017 
to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date will 
be considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this notice should be addressed to 
Margaret Petrella, The Volpe Center (RVT-321), 55 Broadway Street, 
Cambridge, MA 02142. All responses to this notice will be summarized 
and included in the request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
approval. All comments will become a matter of public record.
    Comments also may be submitted via facsimile to (617) 494-3522 or 
by email to: [email protected].
    The public may inspect comments received at 55 Broadway Street, 
Cambridge, MA 02142 in Room 3-67 during normal business hours. Visitors 
are encouraged to call ahead to 617-494-3582 to facilitate entry to the 
building.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Margaret Petrella, Social Scientist, 
U.S. Department of Transportation, The Volpe Center, (617) 494-3582.
    Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) 
may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 twenty-four 
hours a day, every day of the year, including holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Interagency Generic Clearance for Federal Land Management 
Agencies Collaborative Visitor Feedback Surveys on Recreation and 
Transportation Related Programs and Systems.
    OMB Number: 0596-0236.
    Expiration Date of Approval: November 30, 2017.
    Type of Request: Renewal and revision of currently approved 
collection.
    Abstract: From time to time, individual or combined units or 
subunits of various Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMAs) and/or 
FLMA Research Station units need to acquire direct visitor and 
authorized user feedback about site- or area-specific services, 
facilities, road and/or travel systems, needs, programs, demographics, 
management of FLMA lands, and/or other quantitative information on FLMA 
lands in cross-jurisdictional landscapes. FLMAs include, but are not 
limited to: USDA-Forest Service; National Park Service; Bureau of Land 
Management; US Fish & Wildlife Service; US Geological Survey; US Army 
Corps of Engineers; Presidio Trust and Bureau of Reclamation. This 
direct feedback is vital to establish and/or revise goals and 
objectives for FLMA recreation-related transportation system programs 
to and within FLMA recreation sites/opportunities, to inform land 
management plans, and to facilitate interagency coordination across 
multijurisdictional landscapes, which will better meet the needs of the 
public and the resources under FLMA management.
    The benefits of an FLMA interagency generic Information Collection 
(IC) would include significant public and agency time and cost savings. 
If multiple FLMAs in an area or landscape work jointly on one 
quantitative visitor feedback information collection under a generic 
clearance from OMB, there would be significant savings in government 
time and costs related to survey development and OMB survey approval, 
as well as savings in the costs of survey administration and data 
processing. In particular, the public burden would be diminished as the 
public would only need to respond to one jointly-sponsored survey, 
instead of to multiple similar surveys at multiple units in an area.
    Under the following authorities, the participating FLMAs are 
obligated to actively solicit public input to improve public lands 
management to better serve the public:
    1. Forest Service Administration Organic Act of 1897 [16 U.S.C. 
473-478, 479-482, and 551] as amended by the Transfer Act of 1905 [16 
U.S.C. 472, 524, 554];
    2. Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act of 1960 [Pub. L. 86-15, Sec.  
3];
    3. Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources and Planning Act of 
1974 [Pub. L. 93-378 Sec.  3(2,3)] as amended;
    4. National Forest Management Act of 1976 [Pub. L. 94-588, 
Sec. Sec.  2(3), 6(d)], as amended;
    5. Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 [Pub. L. 103-62] 
as amended;
    6. Executive Order 12862 of September 11, 1993;
    7. Executive Order 13571 of April 27, 2011;
    8. Executive Act 12996 of March 25, 1996;
    9. National Park Services Act of 1916;
    10. National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act;
    11. National Wildlife Refuge System Centennial Act [Pub. L. 106-
408];
    12. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976;
    13. General Survey Act of 1824; and
    14. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
    Survey respondents would include visitors and potential visitors to 
FLMA units or subunits, and residents of communities in or near FLMA 
units. Since many of the FLMA surveys are similar in terms of the 
populations being surveyed, the types of questions being asked, the 
research methodologies being used, and the database structures and data 
being utilized, the FLMAs propose a generic Interagency Information 
Collections clearance from OMB to obtain quantitative and/or 
qualitative visitor/user feedback utilizing collection mechanisms such 
as surveys, focus groups, and/or interviews.
    Information collection could occur at one location, several 
locations, across FLMA units, across regions, across the nation, and 
could be multi-jurisdictional at any of these levels. Information 
collection activities could occur once, could occur as iterative 
collections over a limited period of time, or could occur over long 
periods of time at some periodic, planned time interval. Direct visitor 
feedback could be collected through facilitated focus groups or through 
surveys or individual interviews (qualitative or quantitative), with 
either electronically-recorded or hand-written responses, via mail-
back, or via internet, apps, or social media electronic surveys (e.g., 
Quick Response (QR) codes on Smartphones). Survey or interview 
information could be collected at pertinent site(s) or access point(s) 
as visitors arrive or complete their visit(s) or are in the midst of 
their activities; and could be collected pre- or post-visit.
    In general, questions will relate to visitor experience at one or 
more

[[Page 14675]]

specific locations or locales (one FLMA's lands or multi-
jurisdictional) and could address one or more of the following key 
categories, identified as goal areas in FLMA planning documents:
     Mobility and access (for example, different modes used to 
access sites; satisfaction with transportation related services and 
facilities; use and satisfaction with traveler information; reasons for 
non-visitation)
     System management (for example, support for different 
management policies)
     Safety (for example, safety concerns prior or during trip, 
safety-related incidents that occurred)
     Environment (for example, visitor priorities with respect 
to natural and cultural resources; perceptions related to sound)
     Economic development (for example, amount visitors spend 
within the area)
     Visitor/user demographics (for example, home city and 
state, age group, gender, race, number of people/vehicles in party)
     Trip characteristics (for example, length of trip, trip 
purpose, activities and destinations)

To ensure anonymity, if any personally-identifiable information (PII) 
is collected, PII will not be stored with contact information at any 
time, and contact information will be purged from researchers' files 
once data collections are complete.
    Participation in surveys will be strictly voluntary. The 
information could be collected by FLMA personnel, or by private 
contractors, other government agency partners, or universities or other 
educational institutions conducting the information collection on 
behalf of the FLMAs. The data collected would provide managers with 
reliable information to better serve the public, by better-informing 
strategic planning; allocations of physical, fiscal, or human 
resources; modification or refinement of various program management 
goals and objectives or management plan revisions; and future planning 
efforts focused on developing more effective and efficient delivery of 
program services, whether on one or several unit(s) or at an 
interagency, cross-jurisdictional scope. FLMAs may also get requests 
for this kind of information from the general public and/or a variety 
of organizations including Congressional staffs, newspapers, magazines, 
and transportation and/or recreational trade organizations.
    Primary analysis of the information could be conducted by FLMA 
staff or by one or more research station(s), or by private contractors, 
other government agency partners, or universities or other educational 
institutions doing the analyses on behalf of the FLMA. All results will 
be aggregated so specific responses cannot be correlated to specific 
respondents.
    The information collected, including approved survey instruments, 
final reports, and data will be archived in a shared database that can 
be accessed by all FLMAs. In this way, FLMAs will be kept informed 
about the survey efforts of their partner agencies and can use the 
results to inform the development of their own surveys, thus reducing 
the duplication of effort and public burden. In addition, analyzed data 
could be shared among other agencies, stakeholders, educational 
institutions, interested parties, or the public through written or 
electronic reports. FLMA units will use this information to inform 
strategic planning, allocation of resources, revisions of management 
program goals and objectives, revisions of Land Management Plans, and 
long-range planning with statistically-reliable, visitor input data 
necessary to help FLMA units provide their customers with better 
service and coordinate more effectively across jurisdictions.
    Without these joint, coordinated information collections, the FLMAs 
will continue to lack the information necessary to identify and 
implement feasible and publicly-accepted transportation and other 
facility and service improvements to help protect public land resources 
and enhance visitor experience. These joint information collections 
will become ever more important as FLMA budgets continue to shrink and 
demand for access to FLMA recreation sites and opportunities continue 
to grow. These information collections will directly impact FLMA 
resources and visitor experience quality, and help the FLMAs meet their 
various resource, recreation, and transportation management mandates.
    Estimate of Annual Burden: Under a generic IC, the number of 
respondents will differ for each individual survey, depending on the 
purpose and design of each information collection. Therefore, the 
number of respondents is necessarily an estimate. The number of 
responses can be estimated as approximately 70% of the number of 
respondents approached, based on previous administrations of similar 
surveys in various FLMA units. Respondents will be asked to respond 
only one time. Overall, we assume 1200 respondents per survey effort, 
10 respondents per focus group effort, 50 respondents per interview 
effort, and 500 comment cards per comment card effort. The burden of 
time to respond one time will vary, depending on the methodology 
employed. Surveys are estimated at approximately 15 minutes per person, 
based on previous administrations of similar surveys in various FLMA 
units; focus groups are estimated at 90 minutes per person; interviews 
are estimated at 30 minutes each; and comment cards are estimated at 3 
minutes per person.
    Type of Respondents: Visitors or potential visitors to, or 
residents near, lands managed by one FLMA or by multiple FLMAs in 
cross-jurisdictional landscapes (e.g., Bureau of Land Management, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service).
    Estimated Annual Number of Respondents: 23,300.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: One.
    Estimated Burden per Response: 15 minutes (survey); 90 minutes 
(focus group); 30 minutes (interview); 3 minutes (comment card)
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 5,085 hours.

Comment Is Invited

    Comment is invited on:
    (1) Whether this collection of information is necessary for the 
stated purposes and the proper performance of the functions of the 
FLMAs, including whether the information will have practical or 
scientific utility;
    (2) the accuracy of the FLMAs' estimate of the burden of the 
collection of information, including the validity of the 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 
respondents, including the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or 
other technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    All comments received in response to this notice, including names 
and addresses when provided, will be a matter of public record. 
Comments will be summarized and included in the submission request 
toward Office of Management and Budget approval.

    Dated: February 24, 2017.
Lenise Lago,
Deputy Chief, Business Operations.
[FR Doc. 2017-05653 Filed 3-21-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3411-15-P

Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 54 / Wednesday, March 22, 2017 / Notices 14675

specific locations or locales (one one or more research station(s), or by respondents per focus group effort, 50
FLMA’s lands or multi-jurisdictional) private contractors, other government respondents per interview effort, and
and could address one or more of the agency partners, or universities or other 500 comment cards per comment card
following key categories, identified as educational institutions doing the effort. The burden of time to respond
goal areas in FLMA planning analyses on behalf of the FLMA. All one time will vary, depending on the
documents: results will be aggregated so specific methodology employed. Surveys are
• Mobility and access (for example, responses cannot be correlated to estimated at approximately 15 minutes
different modes used to access sites; specific respondents. per person, based on previous
satisfaction with transportation related The information collected, including administrations of similar surveys in
services and facilities; use and approved survey instruments, final various FLMA units; focus groups are
satisfaction with traveler information; reports, and data will be archived in a estimated at 90 minutes per person;
reasons for non-visitation) shared database that can be accessed by interviews are estimated at 30 minutes
• System management (for example, all FLMAs. In this way, FLMAs will be each; and comment cards are estimated
support for different management kept informed about the survey efforts at 3 minutes per person.
policies) of their partner agencies and can use the Type of Respondents: Visitors or
• Safety (for example, safety concerns results to inform the development of potential visitors to, or residents near,
prior or during trip, safety-related their own surveys, thus reducing the lands managed by one FLMA or by
incidents that occurred) duplication of effort and public burden.
• Environment (for example, visitor multiple FLMAs in cross-jurisdictional
In addition, analyzed data could be landscapes (e.g., Bureau of Land
priorities with respect to natural and shared among other agencies,
cultural resources; perceptions related Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
stakeholders, educational institutions, Service, National Park Service).
to sound) interested parties, or the public through
• Economic development (for written or electronic reports. FLMA Estimated Annual Number of
example, amount visitors spend within units will use this information to inform Respondents: 23,300.
the area) strategic planning, allocation of Estimated Annual Number of
• Visitor/user demographics (for resources, revisions of management Responses per Respondent: One.
example, home city and state, age group, program goals and objectives, revisions Estimated Burden per Response: 15
gender, race, number of people/vehicles of Land Management Plans, and long- minutes (survey); 90 minutes (focus
in party) range planning with statistically- group); 30 minutes (interview); 3
• Trip characteristics (for example, reliable, visitor input data necessary to minutes (comment card)
length of trip, trip purpose, activities help FLMA units provide their Estimated Total Annual Burden on
and destinations) customers with better service and Respondents: 5,085 hours.
To ensure anonymity, if any personally- coordinate more effectively across
identifiable information (PII) is jurisdictions. Comment Is Invited
collected, PII will not be stored with Without these joint, coordinated Comment is invited on:
contact information at any time, and information collections, the FLMAs will
contact information will be purged from (1) Whether this collection of
continue to lack the information information is necessary for the stated
researchers’ files once data collections necessary to identify and implement
are complete. purposes and the proper performance of
feasible and publicly-accepted
Participation in surveys will be the functions of the FLMAs, including
transportation and other facility and
strictly voluntary. The information whether the information will have
service improvements to help protect
could be collected by FLMA personnel, practical or scientific utility;
public land resources and enhance
or by private contractors, other visitor experience. These joint (2) the accuracy of the FLMAs’
government agency partners, or information collections will become estimate of the burden of the collection
universities or other educational ever more important as FLMA budgets of information, including the validity of
institutions conducting the information continue to shrink and demand for the assumptions used;
collection on behalf of the FLMAs. The access to FLMA recreation sites and (3) ways to enhance the quality,
data collected would provide managers opportunities continue to grow. These utility, and clarity of the information to
with reliable information to better serve information collections will directly be collected; and
the public, by better-informing strategic impact FLMA resources and visitor (4) ways to minimize the burden of
planning; allocations of physical, fiscal, experience quality, and help the FLMAs the collection of information on
or human resources; modification or meet their various resource, recreation, respondents, including the use of
refinement of various program and transportation management automated, electronic, mechanical, or
management goals and objectives or mandates. other technological collection
management plan revisions; and future Estimate of Annual Burden: Under a techniques or other forms of information
planning efforts focused on developing generic IC, the number of respondents technology.
more effective and efficient delivery of will differ for each individual survey, All comments received in response to
program services, whether on one or depending on the purpose and design of this notice, including names and
several unit(s) or at an interagency, each information collection. Therefore, addresses when provided, will be a
cross-jurisdictional scope. FLMAs may the number of respondents is matter of public record. Comments will
also get requests for this kind of necessarily an estimate. The number of
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

be summarized and included in the
information from the general public responses can be estimated as submission request toward Office of
and/or a variety of organizations approximately 70% of the number of Management and Budget approval.
including Congressional staffs, respondents approached, based on
previous administrations of similar Dated: February 24, 2017.
newspapers, magazines, and
transportation and/or recreational trade surveys in various FLMA units. Lenise Lago,
organizations. Respondents will be asked to respond Deputy Chief, Business Operations.
Primary analysis of the information only one time. Overall, we assume 1200 [FR Doc. 2017–05653 Filed 3–21–17; 8:45 am]
could be conducted by FLMA staff or by respondents per survey effort, 10 BILLING CODE 3411–15–P

VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:14 Mar 21, 2017 Jkt 241001 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\22MRN1.SGM 22MRN1

Document Created: 2017-03-22 03:59:03
Document Modified: 2017-03-22 03:59:03

Category		Regulatory Information
Collection		Federal Register
sudoc Class		AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106:
Publisher		Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
Section		Notices
Action		Notice; request for comment.
Dates		Comments must be received in writing on or before May 22, 2017 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent practicable.
Contact		Margaret Petrella, Social Scientist, U.S. Department of Transportation, The Volpe Center, (617) 494-3582.
FR Citation		82 FR 14674

82 FR 14674 - Information Collection; Interagency Generic Clearance for Federal Land Management Agencies Collaborative Visitor Feedback Surveys on Recreation and Transportation Related Programs and Systems

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUREForest Service

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 54 (March 22, 2017)

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service