SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The information collection activity will gather qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with PBGC's commitment to improving service delivery. Qualitative feedback means information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but the information requests are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results generalizable to the population of interest. This feedback provides insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and expectations, provides early warnings of issues with service, and focuses attention on areas where changes in PBGC's communication with the public, in training of staff, or in operations might improve the delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between PBGC and its customers and stakeholders. These collections also allow feedback to contribute directly to ( printed page 31825) the improvement of program management.

The solicitation of feedback targets areas such as: Timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to improve or maintain the quality of service offered to the public. If this information were not collected, vital feedback from customers and stakeholders on PBGC's services would be unavailable.

PBGC only submits a collection for approval under this generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:

• The collections are voluntary;
• The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;
• The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;
• Any collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the near future;
• Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained;
• Information gathered will be used only internally for general service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency;
• Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions; and
• Information gathered will yield qualitative information; the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the population of interest.

As noted, feedback collected under this generic clearance does not produce results generalizable to the population of interest. This type of generic clearance for qualitative information will not be used for quantitative information collections that are designed to yield reliably actionable results, such as monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Collections with such objectives require more rigorous designs that address: The target population to which generalizations will be made, the sampling frame, the sample design (including stratification and clustering), the precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed sample size, the expected response rate, methods for assessing potential non-response bias, the protocols for data collection, and any testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior to fielding the study.

As a general matter, information collections will not result in any new system of records containing privacy information and will not ask questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

Annually, over the next three years, PBGC estimates that it will conduct three activities involving about 1,630 respondents, each of whom will provide one response. The number of respondents will vary by activity: 40 for usability testing, 90 for focus groups (nine groups of ten respondents), and 1,500 for customer satisfaction surveys.

PBGC estimates the annual burden of this collection of information as 635 hours: 2 hours per response for usability testing (total 80 hours); 2 hours per response for focus groups (total 180 hours); and 15 minutes per response for customer satisfaction surveys (total 375 hours). No cost burden to the public is anticipated.

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.

PBGC is soliciting public comments to—

• Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;
• Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
• Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
• Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology,e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

85 FR 31824