Notice of Request for a New Information Collection: Focus Group Research to Inform Consumer Food Safety Education and Outreach, 67911-67913 [2019-26694]
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Notices
Federal Register
Vol. 84, No. 239
Thursday, December 12, 2019
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains documents other than rules or
proposed rules that are applicable to the
public. Notices of hearings and investigations,
committee meetings, agency decisions and
rulings, delegations of authority, filing of
petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are
examples of documents appearing in this
section.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS–2019–0026]
Notice of Request for a New
Information Collection: Focus Group
Research to Inform Consumer Food
Safety Education and Outreach
Food Safety and Inspection
Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing
its intention to conduct focus groups
with consumers to provide information
to inform consumer education outreach
efforts related to disseminating
information to consumers about recalls
and outbreaks and the labeling of meat
and poultry products. This is a new
information collection with an
estimated burden of 411 hours.
DATES: Submit comments on or before
February 10, 2020.
ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested
persons to submit comments on this
Federal Register notice. Comments may
be submitted by one of the following
methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: This
website provides commenters the ability
to type short comments directly into the
comment field on the web page or to
attach a file for lengthier comments. Go
to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the on-line instructions at that site for
submitting comments.
• Mail, including CD–ROMs, etc.:
Send to Docket Clerk, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Food Safety and
Inspection Service, 1400 Independence
Avenue SW, Mailstop 3758, Room 6065,
Washington, DC 20250–3700.
• Hand- or Courier-Delivered
submittals: Deliver to 1400
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SUMMARY:
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17:56 Dec 11, 2019
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Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065,
Washington, DC 20250–3700.
Instructions: All items submitted by
mail or electronic mail must include the
Agency name and docket number FSIS–
2019–0026. Comments received in
response to this docket will be made
available for public inspection and
posted without change, including any
personal information, to https://
www.regulations.gov.
Docket: For access to background
documents or comments received, call
(202)720–5627 to schedule a time to
visit the FSIS Docket Room at 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065,
Washington, DC 20250–3700.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gina
Kouba, Office of Policy and Program
Development, Food Safety and
Inspection Service, USDA, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065,
South Building, Washington, DC 20250–
3700; (202) 720–5627.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Focus Group Research to Inform
Consumer Food Safety Education and
Outreach Efforts.
OMB Control Number: 0583–XXXX.
Type of Request: Request for a new
information collection.
Abstract: FSIS has been delegated the
authority to exercise the functions of the
Secretary (7 CFR 2.18, 2.53), as specified
in the Federal Meat Inspection Act
(FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601, et seq.). This
statute mandates that FSIS protect the
public by verifying that meat products
are safe, wholesome, unadulterated, and
properly labeled and packaged.
FSIS’s Office of Public Affairs and
Consumer Education (OPACE) develops
consumer education programs
concerning the safe handling,
preparation, and storage of meat,
poultry, and processed egg products to
improve consumer food handling
behaviors and minimize the incidence
of foodborne illness. OPACE shares its
food safety messages through the Food
Safe Families campaign (a cooperative
effort of USDA, the Food and Drug
Administration [FDA], and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
[CDC]); social media; Ask USDA (an
online database of frequently asked food
safety questions); the FSIS website;
FoodSafety.gov (the cross-federal
website operated by FSIS, FDA, and
CDC used to promote safe food handling
to consumers); the Meat and Poultry
Hotline; and various publications,
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
media releases, blogs and events. These
messages are focused on the four core
food safety behaviors: Clean, Separate,
Cook, and Chill.
To collect information to inform
OPACE’s consumer education and
outreach efforts, FSIS is requesting
approval for a new information
collection to conduct consumer focus
groups. Focus group research is
particularly useful in studies such as
this one, because the research is
exploratory in nature. This is a new
information collection with an
estimated burden of 411 hours.
FSIS plans to conduct two sets of
focus groups on different topics: (1)
Consumer understanding and response
to FSIS Recall Notices and Public
Health Alerts and (2) consumer
understanding and use of manufacturer
cooking instructions on ready-to-eat
(RTE) and not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) meat
and poultry products. FSIS has
contracted with RTI International to
conduct the two sets of focus groups.
The focus group research will address
Objective 1.2.3 of the FSIS Fiscal Years
2017–2021 Strategic Plan (https://
www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/
317d14d6-1759-448e-941ade3cbff289e5/Strategic-Plan-20172021.pdf?MOD=AJPERES), which is to
‘‘increase public awareness of recalls,
foodborne illness, and safe food
handling practices.’’
For the first focus group topic,
consumer understanding and response
to USDA Recall Notices and Public
Health Alerts, the findings will help
FSIS learn how consumers understand
and respond to FSIS recall notices and
public health alerts and provide
information to inform possible
modifications to USDA’s procedures for
communicating information to
consumers on recalls and outbreaks. RTI
International will conduct two focus
groups in each of four locations for a
total of eight groups. To increase the
homogeneity of the groups, the groups
will be segmented by education level
(four groups with a high school
education or less and four groups with
some college or a college degree) and
age (four groups with people aged 18–
35 years and four groups with people
aged 36 and older).
For the second focus group topic,
consumer understanding and use of
manufacturer cooking instructions on
RTE and NRTE meat and poultry
E:\FR\FM\12DEN1.SGM
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67912
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2019 / Notices
products, the findings will help FSIS
better understand how consumers use
manufacturer cooking instructions to
prepare RTE and NRTE meat and
poultry products. FSIS can use this
information to assess whether revisions
to FSIS-mandated labeling features are
needed to ensure that consumers safely
handle and prepare RTE and NRTE meat
and poultry products. RTI International
will conduct two focus groups in each
of four locations for a total of eight
groups. To increase the homogeneity of
the groups, the groups will be
segmented by education level (four
groups with a high school education or
less and four groups with some college
or a college degree) and age (four groups
with people aged 18–35 years and four
groups with people aged 36 and older).
For each set of focus groups, a local
market research company in each
location will recruit potential
participants from their databases and
other sources. They will also provide
the facilities for hosting the focus group
discussions. Using convenience
sampling, a nonprobability sampling
technique where subjects are selected
because of their convenient accessibility
instead of random selection, the market
research companies will recruit
potential participants who meet the
eligibility criteria as defined by the
screening questionnaires.
An experienced moderator will
conduct the focus group discussions
and use a facilitator guide, which will
serve as an outline and provide
structure for the focus group
discussions. Each focus group
discussion will be professionally
recorded (audio and video) by the local
market research companies. The audiorecordings will be professionally
transcribed. RTI International will
prepare detailed summaries of each
discussion and review the summaries to
identify common themes and any
exceptions to these themes.
RTI International will summarize
these findings in a final report to FSIS.
No statistical analyses will be
conducted.
Estimate of Burden: For the two sets
of focus groups (8 groups per set for a
total of 16 groups), it is expected that
1,280 individuals will complete the
screening questionnaire, and it is
assumed that 160 will be eligible and
subsequently agree to participate in the
focus group study (10 people per group).
Each screening questionnaire is
expected to take 8 minutes (0.133 hour).
Taking part in the focus group
discussion will take a total of 90
minutes (1.5 hours). The estimated
annual reporting burden for the two sets
of focus groups is 410.24 hours, which
is the sum of the burden estimates for
the screening and focus group
discussion.
ESTIMATED ANNUAL REPORTING BURDEN FOR THE FOCUS GROUP STUDY
Estimated
number of
respondents
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Study component
Annual
frequency
per response
Total annual
responses
Hours per
response
Total hours
Screening questionnaire .............................................
Focus group discussion ..............................................
1,280
160
1
1
1,280
160
0.133 (8 min.) .........
1.5 (90 min.) ...........
170.66
240
Total .....................................................................
........................
........................
........................
.................................
410.66
Respondents: Consumers.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
1,280.
Estimated Number of Annual
Responses per Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Burden on
Respondents: 411 hours.
Copies of this information of this
information collection assessment can
be obtained from Gina Kouba, Office of
Policy and Program Development, Food
Safety and Inspection Service, USDA,
1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room
6065, South Building, Washington, DC
20250–3700; (202) 720–5627.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of FSIS’s functions, including whether
the information will have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of FSIS’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information, including the
validity of the method and assumptions
used; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and (d) ways to minimize
the burden of the collection of
information, including through the use
of appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques, or other forms of
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17:56 Dec 11, 2019
Jkt 250001
information technology. Comments may
be sent to both FSIS, at the addresses
provided above, and the Desk Officer for
Agriculture, Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget (OMB),
Washington, DC 20253.
Responses to this notice will be
summarized and included in the request
for OMB approval. All comments will
also become a matter of public record.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of
rulemaking and policy development is
important. Consequently, FSIS will
announce this Federal Register
publication on-line through the FSIS
web page located at: https://
www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register.
FSIS will also announce and provide
a link to this Federal Register
publication through the FSIS
Constituent Update, which is used to
provide information regarding FSIS
policies, procedures, regulations,
Federal Register notices, FSIS public
meetings, and other types of information
that could affect or would be of interest
to our constituents and stakeholders.
The Constituent Update is available on
the FSIS web page. Through the web
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page, FSIS can provide information to a
much broader, more diverse audience.
In addition, FSIS offers an email
subscription service which provides
automatic and customized access to
selected food safety news and
information. This service is available at:
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe.
Options range from recalls to export
information, regulations, directives, and
notices. Customers can add or delete
subscriptions themselves and have the
option to password protect their
accounts.
USDA Non-Discrimination Statement
No agency, officer, or employee of the
USDA shall, on the grounds of race,
color, national origin, religion, sex,
gender identity, sexual orientation,
disability, age, marital status, family/
parental status, income derived from a
public assistance program, or political
beliefs, exclude from participation in,
deny the benefits of, or subject to
discrimination any person in the United
States under any program or activity
conducted by the USDA.
E:\FR\FM\12DEN1.SGM
12DEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2019 / Notices
How To File a Complaint of
Discrimination
To file a complaint of discrimination,
complete the USDA Program
Discrimination Complaint Form, which
may be accessed online at https://
www.ocio.usda.gov/sites/default/files/
docs/2012/Complain_combined_6_8_
12.pdf, or write a letter signed by you
or your authorized representative.
Send your completed complaint form
or letter to USDA by mail, fax, or email:
Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Washington,
DC 20250–9410.
Fax: (202) 690–7442.
Email: program.intake@usda.gov.
Persons with disabilities who require
alternative means for communication
(Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.),
should contact USDA’s TARGET Center
at (202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD).
Carmen M. Rottenberg,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2019–26694 Filed 12–11–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
[Docket: USDA–2017–0002–0001]
ReConnect Pilot Program
Rural Utilities Service,
Department of Agriculture.
ACTION: Funding Opportunity
Announcement (FOA) and solicitation
of applications for second round of the
ReConnect Program.
AGENCY:
The Rural Utilities Service
(RUS), a Rural Development agency of
the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), hereinafter referred
to as the Agency, announces its general
policy and application procedures for
its second round of funding under the
broadband pilot program. This pilot
program was established pursuant to the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018.
The Agency is announcing the
application window for this second
round of funding and requesting
comments on the program.
DATES:
Applications: Beginning on January
31, 2020, applications can be submitted
through the RUS on-line application
portal until 6:00 p.m. Eastern on March
16, 2020.
Comments: Comments due by March
16, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Application Submission:
Apply at https://reconnect.usda.gov.
Electronic applications will allow for
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SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:56 Dec 11, 2019
Jkt 250001
the expeditious review of an Applicant’s
proposal. As a result, all Applicants
must file their application electronically
at the above website.
Comments: For proper delivery, all
feedback or comments should specify
‘‘Identifying Regulatory Reform
Initiatives.’’
Electronic Submission. You may
submit comments electronically through
the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov using Docket ID:
USDA–2017–0002–0001. USDA strongly
encourages commenters to submit
comments electronically. Electronic
submission of comments allows you
maximum time to prepare and submit a
comment and ensures timely receipt by
USDA. Follow the instructions provided
on that site to submit comments
electronically.
Mail, Hand delivery, or Courier.
Paper, disk, or CD–ROM submissions
should be submitted to regulations@
obpa.usda.gov, Office of Budget and
Program Analysis, USDA, Jamie L.
Whitten Building, Room 101–A, 1400
Independence Ave. SW, Washington,
DC 20250.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
general inquiries, contact Chad Parker,
Assistant Administrator
Telecommunications Program, Rural
Utilities Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), email:
chad.parker@usda.gov, telephone (202)
720–9554. You may obtain additional
information regarding applications at
https://reconnect.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On March 23, 2018, Congress passed
the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2018 (the Act), which established a new
broadband loan and grant pilot program,
now called the Rural eConnectivity Pilot
Program (ReConnect Program). The Act
originally appropriated budget authority
of $600 million to be used on an
expedited basis. For fiscal year (FY)
2019, Congress funded an additional
$550 million for the pilot. The
ReConnect Program provides loans,
grants, and loan/grant combinations to
facilitate broadband deployment in rural
areas. In facilitating the expansion of
broadband services and infrastructure,
the pilot will fuel long-term rural
economic development and
opportunities in rural America. One of
those opportunities is precision
agriculture. The use of this technology
requires a robust broadband connection.
The awards made under this program
will bring high speed broadband to the
farms which will allow them to increase
productivity.
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67913
Applications
Please note that the application
process is designed so that an applicant
must demonstrate financial and
technical feasibility of the project and
the entire operation of the applicant.
Applicants that do not demonstrate
financial or technical feasibility will not
be considered for an award.
Apply at https://reconnect.usda.gov
from January 31, 2020, until 6:00 p.m.
Eastern on March 16, 2020. Electronic
applications will allow for the
expeditious review of an Applicant’s
proposal. As a result, all Applicants
must file their application electronically
at the above website.
Comments
For the first round of funding, the
United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) determined that it was in the
public interest to move forward with
developing procedures for the
ReConnect Program within a Funding
Opportunity Announcement (FOA), as
is common with a pilot, instead of
rulemaking. Such a method would also
meet the statutory mandate of
expediting program delivery.
Notwithstanding the lack of rulemaking,
however, before USDA finalized and
published the FOA, it requested
informal comments from the public on
a wide range of issues to be considered
by the agency in the ReConnect
Program. See Notice of Inquiry and
Request for Comments, 83 FR 35609
(July 27, 2018). Once the FOA was
published, the application windows
were open between April 23, 2019 and
July 12, 2019.
Thereafter, the Agency received input
from applicants that participated in the
first funding round on issues which
included, but were not limited to: (1)
The availability of data; (2) frequency of
collection; (3) clarity of instructions; (4)
data elements to be recorded, disclosed,
or reported; (5) access to forms; and (6)
accessibility for troubleshooting. Based
on that input, the Agency made further
changes to the program, which are
discussed below.
Additionally, with this FOA, the
agency is now requesting that the public
again provide feedback on the program,
as was done with the July 27th Notice
of Inquiry. Specifically, the public is
requested to submit comments that
would inform any future rounds of
ReConnect funding, if any, or comments
on issues that should be addressed in
any future broadband program.
Additionally, and consistent with the
Department’s Regulatory Reform
Initiatives, the public is requested to
submit comments related to program
E:\FR\FM\12DEN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 239 (Thursday, December 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67911-67913]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26694]
========================================================================
Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 239 / Thursday, December 12, 2019 /
Notices
[[Page 67911]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2019-0026]
Notice of Request for a New Information Collection: Focus Group
Research to Inform Consumer Food Safety Education and Outreach
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to conduct focus
groups with consumers to provide information to inform consumer
education outreach efforts related to disseminating information to
consumers about recalls and outbreaks and the labeling of meat and
poultry products. This is a new information collection with an
estimated burden of 411 hours.
DATES: Submit comments on or before February 10, 2020.
ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on this
Federal Register notice. Comments may be submitted by one of the
following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: This website provides
commenters the ability to type short comments directly into the comment
field on the web page or to attach a file for lengthier comments. Go to
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions at that
site for submitting comments.
Mail, including CD-ROMs, etc.: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 3758, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-
3700.
Hand- or Courier-Delivered submittals: Deliver to 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
Instructions: All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must
include the Agency name and docket number FSIS-2019-0026. Comments
received in response to this docket will be made available for public
inspection and posted without change, including any personal
information, to https://www.regulations.gov.
Docket: For access to background documents or comments received,
call (202)720-5627 to schedule a time to visit the FSIS Docket Room at
1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gina Kouba, Office of Policy and
Program Development, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, South Building, Washington, DC
20250-3700; (202) 720-5627.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Focus Group Research to Inform Consumer Food Safety
Education and Outreach Efforts.
OMB Control Number: 0583-XXXX.
Type of Request: Request for a new information collection.
Abstract: FSIS has been delegated the authority to exercise the
functions of the Secretary (7 CFR 2.18, 2.53), as specified in the
Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601, et seq.). This
statute mandates that FSIS protect the public by verifying that meat
products are safe, wholesome, unadulterated, and properly labeled and
packaged.
FSIS's Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education (OPACE)
develops consumer education programs concerning the safe handling,
preparation, and storage of meat, poultry, and processed egg products
to improve consumer food handling behaviors and minimize the incidence
of foodborne illness. OPACE shares its food safety messages through the
Food Safe Families campaign (a cooperative effort of USDA, the Food and
Drug Administration [FDA], and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention [CDC]); social media; Ask USDA (an online database of
frequently asked food safety questions); the FSIS website;
FoodSafety.gov (the cross-federal website operated by FSIS, FDA, and
CDC used to promote safe food handling to consumers); the Meat and
Poultry Hotline; and various publications, media releases, blogs and
events. These messages are focused on the four core food safety
behaviors: Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill.
To collect information to inform OPACE's consumer education and
outreach efforts, FSIS is requesting approval for a new information
collection to conduct consumer focus groups. Focus group research is
particularly useful in studies such as this one, because the research
is exploratory in nature. This is a new information collection with an
estimated burden of 411 hours.
FSIS plans to conduct two sets of focus groups on different topics:
(1) Consumer understanding and response to FSIS Recall Notices and
Public Health Alerts and (2) consumer understanding and use of
manufacturer cooking instructions on ready-to-eat (RTE) and not-ready-
to-eat (NRTE) meat and poultry products. FSIS has contracted with RTI
International to conduct the two sets of focus groups. The focus group
research will address Objective 1.2.3 of the FSIS Fiscal Years 2017-
2021 Strategic Plan (https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/317d14d6-1759-448e-941a-de3cbff289e5/Strategic-Plan-2017-2021.pdf?MOD=AJPERES), which is to ``increase public awareness of
recalls, foodborne illness, and safe food handling practices.''
For the first focus group topic, consumer understanding and
response to USDA Recall Notices and Public Health Alerts, the findings
will help FSIS learn how consumers understand and respond to FSIS
recall notices and public health alerts and provide information to
inform possible modifications to USDA's procedures for communicating
information to consumers on recalls and outbreaks. RTI International
will conduct two focus groups in each of four locations for a total of
eight groups. To increase the homogeneity of the groups, the groups
will be segmented by education level (four groups with a high school
education or less and four groups with some college or a college
degree) and age (four groups with people aged 18-35 years and four
groups with people aged 36 and older).
For the second focus group topic, consumer understanding and use of
manufacturer cooking instructions on RTE and NRTE meat and poultry
[[Page 67912]]
products, the findings will help FSIS better understand how consumers
use manufacturer cooking instructions to prepare RTE and NRTE meat and
poultry products. FSIS can use this information to assess whether
revisions to FSIS-mandated labeling features are needed to ensure that
consumers safely handle and prepare RTE and NRTE meat and poultry
products. RTI International will conduct two focus groups in each of
four locations for a total of eight groups. To increase the homogeneity
of the groups, the groups will be segmented by education level (four
groups with a high school education or less and four groups with some
college or a college degree) and age (four groups with people aged 18-
35 years and four groups with people aged 36 and older).
For each set of focus groups, a local market research company in
each location will recruit potential participants from their databases
and other sources. They will also provide the facilities for hosting
the focus group discussions. Using convenience sampling, a
nonprobability sampling technique where subjects are selected because
of their convenient accessibility instead of random selection, the
market research companies will recruit potential participants who meet
the eligibility criteria as defined by the screening questionnaires.
An experienced moderator will conduct the focus group discussions
and use a facilitator guide, which will serve as an outline and provide
structure for the focus group discussions. Each focus group discussion
will be professionally recorded (audio and video) by the local market
research companies. The audio-recordings will be professionally
transcribed. RTI International will prepare detailed summaries of each
discussion and review the summaries to identify common themes and any
exceptions to these themes.
RTI International will summarize these findings in a final report
to FSIS. No statistical analyses will be conducted.
Estimate of Burden: For the two sets of focus groups (8 groups per
set for a total of 16 groups), it is expected that 1,280 individuals
will complete the screening questionnaire, and it is assumed that 160
will be eligible and subsequently agree to participate in the focus
group study (10 people per group). Each screening questionnaire is
expected to take 8 minutes (0.133 hour). Taking part in the focus group
discussion will take a total of 90 minutes (1.5 hours). The estimated
annual reporting burden for the two sets of focus groups is 410.24
hours, which is the sum of the burden estimates for the screening and
focus group discussion.
Estimated Annual Reporting Burden for the Focus Group Study
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Annual
Study component number of frequency per Total annual Hours per response Total hours
respondents response responses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Screening questionnaire...................... 1,280 1 1,280 0.133 (8 min.)........................... 170.66
Focus group discussion....................... 160 1 160 1.5 (90 min.)............................ 240
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Total.................................... .............. .............. .............. ......................................... 410.66
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Respondents: Consumers.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,280.
Estimated Number of Annual Responses per Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Burden on Respondents: 411 hours.
Copies of this information of this information collection
assessment can be obtained from Gina Kouba, Office of Policy and
Program Development, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, South Building, Washington, DC
20250-3700; (202) 720-5627.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of FSIS's
functions, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of FSIS's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
method and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information, including through
the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques, or other forms of information
technology. Comments may be sent to both FSIS, at the addresses
provided above, and the Desk Officer for Agriculture, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
(OMB), Washington, DC 20253.
Responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of
public record.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, FSIS will announce this Federal
Register publication on-line through the FSIS web page located at:
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register.
FSIS will also announce and provide a link to this Federal Register
publication through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to
provide information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations,
Federal Register notices, FSIS public meetings, and other types of
information that could affect or would be of interest to our
constituents and stakeholders. The Constituent Update is available on
the FSIS web page. Through the web page, FSIS can provide information
to a much broader, more diverse audience. In addition, FSIS offers an
email subscription service which provides automatic and customized
access to selected food safety news and information. This service is
available at: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe. Options range from
recalls to export information, regulations, directives, and notices.
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the
option to password protect their accounts.
USDA Non-Discrimination Statement
No agency, officer, or employee of the USDA shall, on the grounds
of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual
orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status,
income derived from a public assistance program, or political beliefs,
exclude from participation in, deny the benefits of, or subject to
discrimination any person in the United States under any program or
activity conducted by the USDA.
[[Page 67913]]
How To File a Complaint of Discrimination
To file a complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program
Discrimination Complaint Form, which may be accessed online at https://www.ocio.usda.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2012/Complain_combined_6_8_12.pdf, or write a letter signed by you or your
authorized representative.
Send your completed complaint form or letter to USDA by mail, fax,
or email:
Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of
Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410.
Fax: (202) 690-7442.
Email: [email protected].
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for
communication (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), should contact
USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).
Carmen M. Rottenberg,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2019-26694 Filed 12-11-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P