Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments for a New Information Collection, 38706-38707 [2012-15920]

Agencies

• Federal Highway Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 125 (Thursday, June 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38706-38707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15920]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2012-0050]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments 
for a New Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: FHWA invites public comments about our intention to request 
the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a new 
information collection, which is summarized below under SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal 
Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Please submit comments by August 27, 2012.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID 2012-
0050 by any of the following methods:
    Web Site: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received; go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building Ground Floor, Room

[[Page 38707]]

W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. Department of Transportation, West 
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Nesbitt 
(michael.nesbitt@dot.gov), 202-366-1179 Office of Infrastructure, 
Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 8 a.m. 
to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Engage@FHWA: Challenges, Competitions, and Contest 
Activities.
    Background: This request is to seek generic clearance for the 
collection of routine information requested of responders to 
solicitations the Federal government makes during the issuance of 
challenges and competitions posted on the General Service 
Administration (GSA)'s Challenge.gov Web site and similar Web sites 
hosted by third-party vendors. Challenge competitions are increasingly 
being used by Federal agencies to solve complex problems and obtain 
innovative solutions. In this role, the Federal government places a 
description of a problem and parameters of the solution on the Web 
sites like Challenge.gov. The solutions are evaluated by the submitting 
agency and typically prizes (monetary and non-monetary) are awarded to 
the winning entries.
    This clearance applies to challenges posted on Web sites like 
Challenge.gov which use common platforms for the solicitation of 
challenges from the public. FHWA program offices design the criteria 
for its solicitations based on the goals of the challenge and the 
specific needs of the agency and program office. There is no standard 
submission format for solution providers to follow.
    We anticipate that approximately 20 challenges would be issued each 
year by FHWA, with an average of 30 submissions to each challenge 
solicitation. There is no set schedule for the issuance of challenges; 
they are developed and issued on an ``as needed'' basis in response to 
issues that the federal agency wishes to solve.
    Although in recent memoranda the GSA and OMB described 
circumstances whereby OMB approval of a PRA request is not needed, 
program officials at FHWA have identified several sets of information 
that will typically need to be requested of solution providers to 
enable the solutions to be adequately evaluated by the FHWA program 
office issuing the challenge. It has been indicated that these requests 
for additional information require a PRA review, as they represent 
structured data requests.
    There are four types of additional data that will be routinely 
requested by FHWA and its program offices. These include the following:

Title of the Submission

    Due to the nature of the submission and evaluation processes, it is 
important that a title be requested and submitted for each submission 
in order to ensure the solution is correctly identified with its 
provider.

Identification of Data Resources

    In many cases, the solution to a problem will require the solution 
provider to use data resources. Often, the nature of the data sets will 
be derived from Federal data resources, such as data.gov. Evaluations 
of solutions will often depend on the understanding of the selection of 
the data resource(s) used in the solution.

Description of Methodology

    For effective judging and evaluation, a description of the 
development methods for the solution to the challenge will be 
requested. For instance, a prize may be awarded to the solution of a 
challenge to develop an algorithm that enables reliable prediction of a 
certain event. A responder could submit the correct algorithm, but 
without the methodology, the evaluation process could not be adequately 
performed.

Profession, Field of Study, Student Status (Including Major, Expected 
Graduation Year), and/or Business/Organization Status (Nonprofit, 
Government, Small-Business, For-Profit, etc.)

    In order to better refine how FHWA markets the challenge, FHWA 
needs data on which professional fields and student majors are 
participating. This data is also needed to structure competitions, 
challenges, and contests that require categorical submissions 
(students, small-business, corporation, individual, etc.) Categorical 
submissions may be used when it is needed to award prizes in 
categories; and therefore, judge submissions by categories (i.e. 
student submissions compared to students).
    The estimated annual burden request is summarized here:
    Estimated total number of potential respondents: 600.
    Estimated total number of potential responses per respondent: 1.
    Frequency of response: Annually.
    Estimated average burden (in minutes) per response: 10 minutes.
    Estimated total annual burden hours: 100 hours.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed 
collection is necessary for the FHWA's performance; (2) the accuracy of 
the estimated burden; (3) ways for the FHWA to enhance the quality, 
usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that 
the burden could be minimized, including the use of computer 
technology, without reducing the quality of the collected information. 
The agency will summarize and/or include your comments in the request 
for OMB's clearance of this information collection.

     Authority:  The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.

    Issued on: June 22, 2012.
 Steven Smith,
Chief, Information Technology Division.
[FR Doc. 2012-15920 Filed 6-27-12; 8:45 am]
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