Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request, 12493-12494 [2014-04894]

Agencies

• Corporation for National and Community Service

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 5, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12493-12494]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04894]


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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE


Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), as 
part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent 
burden, conducts a pre-clearance consultation program to provide the 
general public and federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance 
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA95) (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)). This program helps to ensure that requested data can be 
provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial 
resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, 
and the impact of collection requirement on respondents can be properly 
assessed.
    Currently, CNCS is soliciting comments concerning its proposed 
renewal of the following proposed Generic Information Collection 
Request (Generic ICR): ``Generic Clearance for the Collection of 
Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery'' for approval under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. seq.). This 
collection was developed as part of a Federal Government-wide effort to 
streamline the process for seeking feedback from the public on service 
delivery. This notice announces our intent to submit this collection to 
OMB for approval and solicits comments on specific aspects for the 
proposed information collection,
    Copies of the information collection request can be obtained by 
contacting the office listed in the Addresses section of this Notice or 
on www.regulations.gov.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the individual and office 
listed in the ADDRESSES section by May 5, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by the title of the 
information collection activity, by any of the following methods:
    (1) By mail sent to: Corporation for National and Community 
Service; Attention Amy Borgstrom, Room 10508B; 1201 New York Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20525.
    (2) By hand delivery or by courier to the CNCS mailroom at Room 
8100 at the mail address given in paragraph (1) above, between 9:00 
a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.
    (3) Electronically through www.regulations.gov.
    Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TTY-
TDD) may call 1-800-833-3722 between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Eastern 
Time, Monday through Friday.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available 
to the public through www.regulations.gov. For this reason, please do 
not include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such 
as sensitive personal information or proprietary information. If you 
send an email comment, your email address will be automatically 
captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the 
public docket and made available on the Internet. Please note that 
responses to this public comment request containing any routine notice 
about the confidentiality of the communication will be treated as 
public comments that may be made available to the public 
notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Borgstrom, 202-606-6930, or by 
email at aborgstrom@cns.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CNCS is particularly interested in comments 
that:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of CNCS, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed 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 expected 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 submissions of responses).

Background

    CNCS seeks to continue to use this information collection to seek 
feedback on the agency's service delivery from grantees and other 
stakeholders.

[[Page 12494]]

Current Action

    The proposed information collection activity provides a means to 
garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, 
timely manner, in accordance with the Administration's commitment to 
improving service delivery. By qualitative feedback we mean information 
that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not 
statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be 
generalized to the population of study. This feedback will provide 
insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences and 
expectations, provide an early warning of issues with service, or focus 
attention on areas where communication, training or changes in 
operations might improve delivery of products or services. These 
collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable 
communications between the Agency and its customers and stakeholders. 
It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement 
of program management.
    The solicitation of feedback will target 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 is not collected, vital feedback from customers and 
stakeholders on the Agency's services will be unavailable.
    The Agency will only submit 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 study.
    Feedback collected under this generic clearance provides useful 
information, but it does not yield data that can be generalized to the 
overall population. 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. Such 
data uses 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. Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely 
to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for 
other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative 
results.
    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.
    The information collection will otherwise be used in the same 
manner as the existing application. CNCS also seeks to continue using 
the current application until the revised application is approved by 
OMB. The current application is due to expire on April 30, 2014.
    Type of Review: Renewal.
    Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery.
    OMB Number: 3045-0137.
    Agency Number: None.
    Affected Public: Individuals and Households; Businesses and 
Organizations; State, Local or Tribal Governments.
    Total Respondents: 2,000.
    Frequency: Once.
    Average Time per Response: Averages 15 minutes.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 500 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.

Request for Comments

    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval. Comments are invited 
on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether 
the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) 
estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information. Burden 
means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by 
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide information 
to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review 
instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and 
systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and verifying 
information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and 
providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to 
a collection of information, to search data sources, to complete and 
review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise 
disclose the information.
    All written comments will be available for public inspection on 
regulations.gov.
    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 Office of Management and Budget control number.

    Dated: February 27, 2014.
Mary Hyde,
Acting Director, Research and Evaluation.
[FR Doc. 2014-04894 Filed 3-4-14; 8:45 am]
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