83 FR 12590 - Agency Information Collection Activities; DOI Programmatic Clearance for Customer Satisfaction Surveys

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 56 (March 22, 2018)

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, the Office of the Secretary are proposing to renew an information collection.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 56 (Thursday, March 22, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12590-12592]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05842]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[189D0102DM DLSN00000.000000 DS61200000 DX61201; OMB Control Number 
1040-0001]


Agency Information Collection Activities; DOI Programmatic 
Clearance for Customer Satisfaction Surveys

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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[[Page 12591]]

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, 
the Office of the Secretary are proposing to renew an information 
collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
May 21, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on this information collection request 
(ICR) by mail to the Jeffrey Parrillo, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 
20240; or by email to [email protected]. Please reference 
OMB Control Number 1090-0011 in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this ICR, contact Jeffrey Parrillo by email at 
[email protected], or by telephone at 202-208-7072.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, 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.
    We are soliciting comments on the proposed ICR that is described 
below. We are especially interested in public comment addressing the 
following issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to the proper 
functions of the Office of the Secretary; (2) will this information be 
processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden 
accurate; (4) how might the Office of the Secretary enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 
(5) how might the Office of the Secretary minimize the burden of this 
collection on the respondents, including through the use 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 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: The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) 
(Pub. L. 103-62) requires agencies to ``improve Federal program 
effectiveness and public accountability by promoting a new focus on 
results, service quality, and customer satisfaction.'' To fulfill this 
responsibility, DOI bureaus and offices must collect data from their 
respective user groups to better understand the needs and desires of 
the public and to respond accordingly. Executive Order 12862 ``Setting 
Customer Service Standards'' also requires all executive departments to 
``survey customers to determine . . . their level of satisfaction with 
existing services.'' We use customer satisfaction surveys to help us 
fulfill our responsibilities to provide excellence in government by 
proactively consulting with those we serve. This programmatic clearance 
provides an expedited approval process for DOI bureaus and offices to 
conduct customer research through external surveys such as 
questionnaires and comment cards.
    The proposed renewal covers all of the organizational units and 
bureaus in DOI. Information obtained from customers by bureaus and 
offices will be provided voluntarily. No one survey will cover all the 
topic areas; rather, these topic areas serve as a guide within which 
the bureaus and offices will develop questions. Questions may be asked 
in languages other than English (e.g., Spanish) where appropriate. 
Topic areas include:
    (1) Delivery, quality and value of products, information, and 
services. Respondents may be asked for feedback regarding the following 
attributes of the information, service, and products provided:
    (a) Timeliness.
    (b) Consistency.
    (c) Accuracy.
    (d) Ease of Use and Usefulness.
    (e) Ease of Information Access.
    (f) Helpfulness.
    (g) Quality.
    (h) Value for fee paid for information/product/service.
    (2) Management practices. This area covers questions relating to 
how well customers are satisfied with DOI management practices and 
processes, what improvements they might make to specific processes, and 
whether or not they feel specific issues were addressed and reconciled 
in a timely, courteous, and responsive manner.
    (3) Mission management. We will ask customers to provide 
satisfaction data related to DOI's ability to protect, conserve, 
provide access to, provide scientific data about, and preserve natural, 
cultural, and recreational resources that we manage, and how well we 
are carrying out our trust responsibilities to American Indians.
    (4) Rules, regulations, policies. This area focuses on obtaining 
feedback from customers regarding fairness, adequacy, and consistency 
in enforcing rules, regulations, and policies for which DOI is 
responsible. It will also help us understand public awareness of rules 
and regulations and whether or not they are explained in a clear and 
understandable manner.
    (5) Interactions with DOI Personnel and Contractors. Questions will 
range from timeliness and quality of interactions to skill level of 
staff providing the assistance, as well as their courtesy and 
responsiveness during the interaction.
    (6) General demographics. Some general demographics may be gathered 
to augment satisfaction questions so that we can better understand the 
customer and improve how we serve that customer. We may ask customers 
how many times they have used a service, visited a facility within a 
specific timeframe, their ethnic group, or their race.
    All requests to collect information under the auspices of this 
proposed renewal will be carefully evaluated to ensure consistency with 
the intent, requirements, and boundaries of this programmatic 
clearance. Interior's Office of Policy Analysis will conduct an 
administrative and technical review of each specific request in order 
to ensure statistical validity and soundness. All information 
collections are required to be designed and deployed based upon 
acceptable statistical practices and sampling methodologies, and 
procedures that account for and minimize non-response bias, in order to 
obtain consistent, valid data and statistics that are representative of 
the target populations.
    Title of Collection: DOI Programmatic Clearance for Customer 
Satisfaction Surveys.
    OMB Control Number: 1040-0001.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: DOI customers. We define customers as 
anyone who uses DOI resources, products, or services. This includes 
internal customers (anyone within DOI) as well as external customers 
(e.g., the American public, representatives of the private sector, 
academia, other government agencies). Depending upon their role in 
specific situations and interactions, citizens and DOI stakeholders and 
partners may also be considered customers. We define

[[Page 12592]]

stakeholders to mean groups or individuals who have an expressed 
interest in and who seek to influence the present and future state of 
DOI's resources, products, and services. Partners are those groups, 
individuals, and agencies who are formally engaged in helping DOI 
accomplish its mission.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 120,000. We estimate 
approximately 60,000 respondents will submit DOI customer satisfaction 
surveys and 60,000 will submit comment cards.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 120,000.
    Estimated Completion Time per Response: 15 minutes for a customer 
survey; 3 minutes for a comment card.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 18,000.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: None.
    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.).

Benjamin Simon,
Chief DOI Economist.
[FR Doc. 2018-05842 Filed 3-21-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4334-63-P