1625-0089 Supporting Statement_r3

1625-0089

Supporting Statement

for

National Recreational Boating Survey

OMB No.: 1625-0089

COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS: Various Surveys

A. Justification

1. Why Information Collection is Necessary

a) Background

The U.S. Coast Guard’s National Recreational Boating Safety (NRBS) program objective is to ensure the public has a safe, secure, and enjoyable recreational boating experience by implementing programs that minimize loss of life, personal injury, and property damage while cooperating with environmental and national security efforts. The National Recreational Boating Survey information collection project enables the Coast Guard to better identify safety priorities, coordinate and focus research efforts, and encourage consistency in the information that is collected as well as the applied analysis methods.

A NRBS program requirement as set forth in Title 46, United States Code, § 13101, is to “encourage greater State participation and uniformity in boating safety efforts, and particularly to permit the States to assume the greater share of boating safety education, assistance, and enforcement activities”. As coordinator of the NRBS program, the Coast Guard provides support for safety initiatives in every jurisdiction (States and Territories) by making available timely, relevant information on boating activities that occur in each respective jurisdiction. Working in partnership with State Boating Law Administrators (BLAs), the boating information provided by the Coast Guard enables each State agency to tailor and implement safety initiatives that address the needs of boaters in each respective jurisdiction.

Due to differing State policies about boat operation as well as the unique waterways in each State where boating takes place, reporting individual State-level estimates of boating activity and operation rather than grouping similar States is required so that safety advocates can better address the diverse needs of boaters in each respective State. Thus, a primary objective of the information collection effort is to capture sufficient data for each State in order to yield precise State-level estimates of boat use, operator age, boating safety instruction levels, and safety measures taken; this information is critical to State program direction and policy development.

b) Privacy Impact Assessment Information

This study will collect information about individuals who participate in recreational boating activities as well as the boats used by the population. It will produce a measure of boating exposure that is reliable at both national and State levels. The study also will measure incidence of participation, incidence of boat ownership, boating safety awareness and behavior, the economic impact of recreational boating, incidence of negative events and risk, and general boating statistics. Data are generally regarded as being no greater than minimally sensitive; therefore, data collection will have little or no effect on the respondent’s privacy. Nevertheless, safeguards will be put in place to ensure that all collected data remain private.

c) Overview of the Data Collection System

It is anticipated that the NRBS will be used to gather information on boating activity for 2011 and 2013. The data collection system used during each iteration has been designed to gather information at three distinct analysis levels:

Participant: Someone in a household who has participated in any activity on any privately-owned recreational or rented boat during the reference period, whether the boat was docked or not.

Boat: Vessels owned in the United States that are either not used at all or used at least 50 percent of the time for recreational purposes.

Trip: Recreational boat trips involving the use of a recreational boat where the boat either does not leave the launch site at all or launches from the United States.

There are three core sources of sample for the NRBS:

A generated Random Digit Dial (RDD) list of landline telephone numbers will be the basis for obtaining information regarding participants, including boat ownership, exposure to boating activities on rented vessels, safety awareness, behaviors, and demographics.

Recognizing the impact of mobile phone adoption on telephone survey coverage, lists of mobile telephone numbers will be purchased for a complementary telephone effort which is critical for ensuring representation of key demographic groups.

State vessel registry lists are available for most States, making it possible to sample boats for a mail study to determine the economic impact of boating as well as gather boat statistics. For boats which would not be listed in a purchased list, this data will be obtained during telephone interviews with boat owners.

The data collection effort utilizes a multi-stage structure illustrated in Figure 1. A national Boat Survey, conducted by RDD phone and mail, will collect information about owned boats and recruit boats to a panel. A multi-mode Trips Survey of boats will collect information about individual trips. A national Participant Survey will be conducted by RDD phone to collect information from all boating participants.

It is expected that approximately 10,314 mail surveys and 89,056 telephone surveys will be conducted each year to profile the incidence of boats, while another 16,640 telephone surveys will gauge boating participation. The targeted ratio of mobile to landline telephone surveys will be adjusted each fielding based on changes in cell phone adoption. Approximately 36,163 trips will be profiled each year using the panel of about 19,500 boats. It is estimated that 35% to 40% of data regarding trips will be provided by panelists via a web-based reporting option.

Figure 1 - Overview of the Data Collection System

Survey	Mode(s)	Sample source(s)	Universe		Respondent	Analytic Goals
Boat Survey	Phone	RDD	Privately owned recreational boats	Unregistered recreational boats	Member of boat-owning household	2-Ownership and participation 4-Economic impact of boating 6-Boat statistics 1-Exposure (2010 only)
				Registered recreational boats in all states	Member of boat-owning household
	Mail	Registry Lists	Privately owned recreational boats	Registered recreational boats in states sharing lists	Registered boat owner
Trip Survey	Web, Phone	Panel	Privately owned recreational boats		Boat owner panelist	1-Exposure
						3-Safety awareness and behaviors
						4-Economic impact of boating
						5-Negative events
Participant Survey	Phone	RDD	Boating participants	U.S. households	Any adult household member	2- Ownership and participation 3- Safety awareness and behaviors
				U.S. child (<16) boating population	Any adult household member (proxy)
				U.S. adult boating population	Adult boater
			Rented boats		Adult boater: rented boat	1-Exposure
						3-Safety awareness and behaviors
						4-Economic impact of boating
						5-Negative events

d) Items of Information to be Collected

The NRBS will capture information at three levels:

Boat level,

Boat trip level, and

Recreational boating participant level.

Questions have been formed to address the six purposes of the NRBS:

Boat and boater exposure (as measured in hours),

Boating participation and boat ownership,

Boating safety awareness and behaviors,

Economic impact of recreational boating,

Negative event incidence and risk, and

Boat statistics including the type and size of the vessel.

To elucidate each area, questions are formed around the following:

Boat and boater hours on the water,

Boat hours in docked recreation,

Total annual participation overall,

Total annual participation by boat type,

Total boat ownership,

Lifejacket use,

Motivations for participating in recreational boating activities,

Alcohol use and boat operation,

Money spent to own and maintain a boat,

Money spent in communities on boat trips,

Actual and reported accidents that cause injury and boat damage, and

Features of boats such as hull material and propulsion systems.

e) Identification of Website(s) and Website Content Directed at Children Under 13 Years of Age

Once boats are identified during the Boat Survey, selected owners will be re-contacted each month to provide information regarding recent trips aboard the vessels. When an e-mail address for a boat owner is available, an invitation will be sent to complete the survey via the Internet. A keyed link will permit the recipient to access collection forms directly via a secure server. Information regarding the identified vessel, such as its type, may be identified in the survey script but identifying information regarding the owner will not be displayed.

It is presumed that minors will not be listed as boat owners. While a minor may inadvertently gain access to the Web survey, questions regarding recent trip activity are considered to be minimally sensitive.

2. Purpose and Use of Information Collected

a) Purpose of Information Collection

The purposes of the NRBS, in order of priority, are to measure:

Exposure,

Boat and boater hours on the water,

Boat hours in docked recreation,

Boating participation and boat ownership,

Total annual participation overall,

Total annual participation by boat type,

Total boat ownership,

Boating safety awareness and behaviors,

Lifejacket use,

Motivations for participating in recreational boating activities,

Alcohol use and boat operation,

Economic impact of recreational boating,

Money spent to own and maintain a boat,

Money spent in communities on boat trips,

Negative Event Incidence and Risk,

Actual and reported accidents that cause injury and boat damage,

Boat statistics including the type and size of the vessel, and

Features of boats such as hull material and propulsion systems.

b) Anticipated Uses of Results by the Coast Guard

This information collection supports the following strategic goal of the Coast Guard’s NRBS program:

Safety: To reduce the number of deaths, the number and severity of injuries, and the amount of property damage associated with the use of recreational boats.

Recreational boating is important from many different perspectives, including being a very popular recreational pursuit that also represents a major source of economic stimulus and community development. Boating experienced dramatic increases in participation and facility development from the 1960s thru the 1990s. However, recreational boating agencies, organizations, and different industry sectors are confronting a wide array of complex issues and challenges. These include:

Changing demographics that are influencing recreational boating participation levels, behaviors, and expectations;

Recruiting new boaters who represent the changing diversity of the U.S. population;

Assessing boating needs and forecasting boating participation;

Developing new boating products, facilities, and services in response to changing preferences of existing and potential boaters;

Developing policies and regulations that enhance both the quality (e.g., safety, environmental protection) and sustainability of boating; and

The need to focus and coordinate the investments and combined efforts (e.g. recruitment, boater safety, service enhancement) of different recreational boating agencies, organizations, and businesses.

The majority of these challenges and issues require reliable, valid information. Information that is continuously required for policy investment/budgeting, educational and evaluation decisions includes:

Numbers and characteristics of boating participants (i.e., boat owners and non-owners);

Perceptions of boaters;

Participation rates (i.e., boating trips, “boat days”) and behaviors;

Boater preferences;

Numbers and types of boats (i.e., registered, documented, unregistered); and

The effectiveness of boating information, education, safety, and enforcement programs.

In summary, the information collection is critical because it:

(1) Gathers reliable, consistent data to develop valid safety performance measures;

(2) Collects information about the changing demographics of boaters, the numbers of boats, and type of boating activity essential for NRBS program direction and policy; and

(3) Provides the data necessary to better define and measure the effectiveness of State program activities aimed at reducing the number of boating fatalities. This in turn will support States in their efforts to reach specific performance goals and objectives.

c) Anticipated Uses of Results by Other Federal Agencies and Departments

Several Federal agencies are expected to use the NRBS statistics. Among others are The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US Arm y Corps of Engineers (USACE), the USDA Forest Service.

d) Use of Results by Those Outside Federal Agencies

Numerous institutions have expressed interest in using the Coast Guard NRBS results. Among others are the Department of Natural resources of almost all States, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), the National Association of States Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA), West Marine, US Sailing Association, Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, Boat US, American Canoe Association, and more.

e) Privacy Impact Information

Please see section 1, b. Privacy Impact Assessment Information, on page 1.

3. Use of Improved Information Technology and Burden Reduction

The NRBS system includes five questionnaires combined in various ways to collect information at three levels: boat level, boat trip level, and recreational boating participant level. These five questionnaires include a telephone phone and mail version of a Boat Survey, a telephone/web and mail version of the Trip Survey, and a telephone version of the Participant Survey.

The most efficient method for sampling boats is by utilizing State registry information. It is anticipated that over three-quarters of the nation’s registered vessels can be sampled using these databases. However, the coverage for this proposed approach is affected by issues such as local registration requirements and access to the lists themselves. Supplemental telephone studies will ensure the probability of selection for boat owners not listed in the obtained registries. Boat owners agreeing to participate in follow-up surveys will be asked for their e-mail addresses.

In order to build exposure measures, a subsample of boat owners will be re-contacted every month to detail recent boat trip activity. The selection algorithm will ensure that any owner who has agreed to participate in the follow-up effort is selected no more than twice to provide trip information about a particular boat. Invitations to complete Web-enabled Internet forms will be provided when e-mail addresses are available (all others will be contacted by telephone). Web surveys will be programmed using specialized software that will ensure accurate capture of data in a secure environment.

Information regarding boating participation will be collected via telephone only. As with other telephone efforts, the survey will be conducted using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) software. CATI software will allow for quality checks to be built into the programming, providing virtually error-free data collection. It is anticipated that up to 15,000 interviews nationwide will be conducted specifically among cell phone users across three iterations of the study. This stratum attempts to include the growing population of households that are cell phone-only and may be missed in traditional RDD landline surveys. Recent studies indicate that close to 20 percent of U.S. households are cell phone-only and disproportionately represent younger households and low SES/poverty¹ individuals, characteristics which may be correlated to distinct boating behavior. By including cell phone numbers as part of the frame, the growing use of information technology beyond the traditional bounds of RDD surveys will be addressed.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

The Coast Guard did an extensive search of available information on boats, boaters, and boating activities to determine if the critical need for recent boating information could be met. No comprehensive national boating data source was identified. Since our most recent information collection (which ended in September 2002), no information collections have been conducted from which the Coast Guard could obtain reliable up-to-date estimates on the number of recreational boats, boating households, boaters, and activities at the national and State levels.

5. Impact on Small Business or Other Small Entities

The NRBS is a social survey primarily designed to collect data from individual recreational boating participants. Because the study focuses on the residential population, the data collection effort will not place an undue response burden on small businesses or similar entities. Additionally, this survey is voluntary, and only those who express the desire to participate will be included.

6. Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequency

If reliable boating data are not collected, the Coast Guard will be unable to perform the following:

Measure the effectiveness of various boating safety programs;

Identify and satisfy recreational boater needs;

Improve the effectiveness of the boating safety programs by setting well-defined goals and developing targeted strategies in support of those goals; and

Make prudent resource allocation decisions and provide program oversight using the most meaningful performance measures.

7. Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

This information collection is conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320(d)(2).

8. Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside the Agency

a) Federal Register Announcement

A 60-day Notice and 30-day Notice were published in the Federal Register to obtain public comment on this collection. (See USCG-2010-0231; April 14, 2010, 75 FR 19413; July 9, 2010, 75 FR 39552). That notice elicited 4 comments.

The Coast Guard issued an OMB Information Collection supporting statement for its National Recreational Boating Survey for public comment on April 14, 2010. The proposed information collection activities were prepared by the USCG contractor ICF-Macro (former Macro International, Inc), and based on recommendations from a Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and a Collaboratory of Partners (COP), two groups that a grant recipient and the Coast Guard put in place to assist with the development of the National Recreational Boating Survey. The SAC was a group of methodologists whose role was to provide guidelines for survey design. The COP, on the other hand, was a collaboration involving various groups such as government agencies, boater associations, and the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. The primary responsibility of the COP was to help Coast Guard define the content of its survey questionnaires.

We reviewed each of the comments received with diligence, and made some changes to our survey’s supporting statement where it was deemed appropriate. The present document provides a summary of public comments, our responses thereto, and changes made to the supporting statement.

1. General Supportive Comments

All comments supported the National Recreational Boating Survey’s broad goals, and reiterated the importance of collecting more targeted data in response to the elements included in the National Recreational Boating Safety (NRBS) Program’s strategic plan. This strategic plan calls for the collection of participation/exposure data to develop reliable national and state level measures of the risk incidental to recreational boating. Valid comparisons of injury or fatality rates across states or other geographic entities, which have always been of interest, require the use of participation/exposure data as common base for calculating rates’ denominators. This survey will make exposure data available to the boating community, in addition to collecting various other boating participation data broken down by various boat characteristics including type and length.

2. The Survey and the Strategic Plan Objectives

One commenter indicated that the current survey does not account for the more recent developments in the RBS strategic planning efforts. While it is accurate that the RBS strategic plan is undergoing some changes, the Coast Guard had to base the design of its survey on the latest version of the strategic plan that was adopted by the National Boating Safety Advisory Council. However, it is expected that subsequent iterations of the survey will be updated as new versions of the RBS strategic plan are adopted.

3. Survey Costs

A number of comments raised a concern that the cost for conducting this survey was unduly high, suggesting that the survey questionnaires could be trimmed substantially to the point of collecting only information that is critical to the implementation of the RBS strategic plan. It is accurate that government surveys are increasingly expensive, especially when conducted by mail or by telephone. But the definitive costs of the 2011 survey have not yet been determined, and will ultimately be negotiated with the Coast Guard’s contractor ICF-Macro. The Coast Guard will negotiate the lowest price possible for each survey iteration without altering significantly the data requirements as specified by its boating partners from states, academia, and the industry. To reduce survey costs, the Coast Guard will encourage survey participants to take the web version of the survey whenever possible. Another option for reducing cost is not to produce state-level statistics for states that will not provide registration data to the Coast Guard. Collecting data in States with a legislation that preclude them from releasing boat registration to the Coast Guard will increase data collection costs dramatically. However, it appears essential to the Coast Guard to satisfy all its boating partners who put in the effort to express their data needs.

4. Collection of 2010 Data

Some comments indicated that the Coast Guard’s effort to collect 2010 data in the first survey cycle, where participants will have to recall a year’s worth of information will result in poor data quality. It is accurate that in addition to collecting the 2011 data on a monthly basis, the Coast Guard will ask questions regarding the 2010 boating season. While accurate 2010 exposure data will be difficult to obtain, the Coast Guard expects to be able to collect accurate and useful 2010 information on boat ownership and demographic data on the boating population. This data will be compiled and made available much faster than the 2011 data that will be collected throughout the year 2011 and the beginning of 2012.

5. Miscellaneous

• A commenter pointed out the difficulty most boaters have knowing what life jacket type they use. The Coast Guard’s contractor discovered this problem during the pilot test. The decision was made to eliminate the lifejacket type question from the telephone survey. However, this question will remain on the web version of the trip survey, where respondents will be able to visualize the different lifejacket types.

• Another comment was made questioning the need to ask boaters whether lifejackets were worn during the outing, when the Coast Guard’s observational study collects the same information. This survey is not duplicating other Coast Guard information collection efforts. The objective here is to understand the reasons why boaters do not wear lifejackets, or the reasons why they wear them when they do.

A comment was made regarding the estimated time to complete the different survey questionnaires that may be understated. These survey questionnaires were field-tested by our contractor. However, the times reported on the Supporting Statement are estimated averages across questionnaires and across survey respondents. It is understood that some survey questionnaires will take longer to complete than others. Moreover, even respondents taking the same survey will spend an amount of time that will vary substantially depending on the amount of information to be reported. It is anticipated that some respondents with limited involvement in boating may take less than 5 minutes to complete a questionnaire that may take 15 to 20 minutes to other respondents who are heavy boaters.

b) Consultations

The NRBS has evolved from the National Recreational Boating Safety Survey which involved 25,547 interviews with recreational boaters who operated boats between September 2001 and September 2002. A Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), and a Collaboration of Partners (COP) have facilitated the incorporation of feedback from data users, stakeholders, and industry leaders during the development of the current protocol.

Current and former SAC members include:

Pr. Edward Mahoney (MSU), Pr. Dan Stynes (MSU), Dr. Steven Heeringa (Survey Research Center, University of Michigan), Dr. Karol Krotki (RTI International)

Current and former COP members include:

Nancy M. Gogle (Representing Ohio DNR), Captain Richard Moore (Representing Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, NASBLA), William C. Naumann (Representing National Marine Manufacturers Association), Julie M. McQuade (Representing Ohio Department of Natural Resources),

L. Daniel Maxim (Representing Coast Guard Auxiliary), Robert Burgess (Representing West Marine and Recreation Boating Retailers), James Patrick Muldoon (Representing U.S. Sailing Association),

Marla Hetzel (Representing the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation), Nancy S. Michelman (Representing BOATUS), Pamela S. Dillon (Representing American Canoe Association and National Safe Boating Council), Dr. Deborah Gona (Representing NASBLA), Van Snider (Representing Michigan Boating Industries Association, National Marine Trades Council and Marine Retailers Association of America),

David Ray (Representing Marine Industries Association of Florida and Marine Retailers Association of America), Jerry Mona (Representing National Marine Manufacturers Association and Grow Boating Campaign)

9. Explanation of Any Payment or Gift to Respondents

We will offer $5 as an incentive to panelists for each trip-level survey they complete. This incentive will minimize panel and survey attrition and promote prompt survey response. Prompt survey response is important because accurate recall of hours on the water is critical to achieving accurate exposure estimates. Respondents who have sold their boats and are ineligible will not receive the incentive because they will not complete a survey. Respondents in the panel will be incentivized regardless of recent boating activity levels. This will help minimize panel attrition while maintaining unbiased responses.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents

Individuals contacted will be assured of the confidentiality of their responses under 42 U.S.C. 1306, 20 CFR 401 and 422, 5 U.S.C. 552 (Freedom of Information Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act of 1974), and OMB Circular No. A-130. The data collection will be reviewed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to ensure the protection of respondents.

During telephone interviews, respondents are told during the initial screener that the information they provide will be kept confidential.  Verbal consent will be elicited from participants.  A call-back telephone number will be provided to anyone who wishes to speak with a supervisor or the client.    As part of interviewer training, prior to commencement of data collection, the project director will review all IRB-approved procedures for the protection of human subjects.  The training will include procedures for reporting respondent complaints and unanticipated problems. Also, all interviewers will be required to sign a statement of confidentiality on the date of hire, and concepts related to confidentially will be reinforced at training.  In addition, interviewers will be instructed to discontinue a call if they feel someone is listening on another line.  Such discontinued calls will result in an unscheduled call-back at a later date. 

Mail survey items will display OMB approval numbers and statements assuring confidentiality, and contact information will be provided so that a respondent’s questions can be answered by a knowledgeable member of the project team. A returned form will imply consent.

Precautions also are taken in how the data are handled to prevent a breach of confidentiality.  Survey data and all identifying information about respondents will be handled in ways that prevent unauthorized access at any point during the study.  To maintain confidentiality, only a sub-string of the telephone numbers associated with each completed call is included in the final data, so a respondent's answers cannot be connected to a specific person or telephone number.   Data will be housed on a secure server. Access to mail information will be limited and on a need-to-know basis. If reports or tabular data are submitted, the data will be reviewed to determine if the subject(s) can be identified when small cell counts occur.  If there is the potential for the identification of these subject(s), the data in these cells will be removed. 

a) Privacy Impact Assessment Information

Please see section 1, b. Privacy Impact Assessment Information, on page 1.

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

There are no questions of sensitive nature.

12. Estimates of Annualized Burden Hours and Costs

Estimates of Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers

The NRBS is a survey of boating activity and participation. State-supplied boat registration data will be used as the sampling frame for selecting boating households. However, the content of State boat registration databases is limited to recreational vessels that owners are required by law to register, which are typically power boats or boats of a certain size. It is also anticipated that State confidentiality laws will prevent some States from providing their registration data to the Coast Guard. Consequently, we will need to select a RDD sample of boating households to cover the portion of the boating population not included in the State’s boat registration databases. In States that provide boat registration data, only households that do not own any registered or documented recreational vessel will be eligible for inclusion in the RDD sample. In States for which boat registration data are not available, all boating households will be eligible for selection in the sample.

While the State’s boat registration databases will allow for the targeting of specific boats in order to obtain precise boat statistics, the RDD sample will allow for the collection of data on unregistered recreational vessels and their owners, operators, or passengers. In States not providing boat registration data, statistics specific to registered boats will still be produced, although their precision will be inferior to that of mail survey statistics.

Table 1 illustrates different cost estimates associated with the 2011 NRBS. A cost estimate of $25.15 per respondent hour was calculated by dividing the median U.S. household income of $50,303² by 2,000 annual labor hours.

Table 1: Cost Evaluation of the Surveys

Cost Element	BOAT Mail	BOAT Telephone	TRIP Phone, Web	PARTICIPANT Telephone	ALL SURVEYS
Initial Contacts	28,650	223,705	18,375	41,600
Response Rate	40%	40%	40%	40%
Completed Surveys	11,460	89,482	35,014	16,640
Eligibility Rate	90%	22%	90%	100%
Number Eligible	10,314	19,686	31,513	16,640
Survey Duration (min)	12.6	9.0	7.8	6.0
Annual Burden (hrs)	2,166	2,953	4,097	1,664	10,880
Cost/hr	$25.15	$25.15	$25.15	$25.15
Total Annual Cost	$54,475	$74,268	$103,040	$41,850	$273,633

Overall, survey participants will spend about 10,880 hours filling out the different questionnaires for the 2011 NRBS, represented as an estimated cost burden of $273,633. Note that Table 1 is based upon the assumption that all States will make their boat registration databases available to the Coast Guard.

13. Estimates of annualized capital and start-up costs

There are no record keeping, capital, start-up or maintenance costs associated with this information collection.

14. Estimates of Annualized Cost to the Federal Governemt.

Under section13106(c) of title 46 U.S.C., funding is made available for payment of expenses of the Coast Guard for activities directly related to coordinating and carrying out national recreational boating safety programs. In August 2009, Blanket Purchase Agreement HSCG23-09-A-M01012 was awarded to Macro International, enabling them to conduct alternating annual surveys. The estimated cost for the five year contract as set forth in the solicitation was $15,267,105, resulting in an average annual cost of $3,053,421.

a) Tabulation Plans

The contractor selected to conduct the survey will use advanced statistical software such as SAS or SPSS to generate frequencies of responses, cross-tabulations on key variables using weighted data. Fundamental measures for observation include:

Numbers and characteristics of boating participants (i.e., boat owners and non-owners);

Perceptions of boaters;

Participation rates (i.e., boating trips, “boat days”) and behaviors;

Boater preferences;

Numbers and types of boats (i.e., registered, documented, unregistered); and

The effectiveness of boating information, education, safety, and enforcement programs.

b) Publication Plans

National, Coast Guard regional, and statewide estimates of recreational boats, boating households, boaters, boating exposures, practices, and activities during the boating season will be published in a report and disseminated to boating safety officials.

c) Time Schedule for the Project

Exhibit 1 shows the schedule of data collection. The NRBS is a biannual survey designed to collect data about boating participation and boat activities for 2011, 2013, and beyond.

Exhibit 1: Survey program schedule

		Boat Survey	Trips Survey	Participant Survey
2010	Q1
	Q2
	Q3
	Q4	x
2011	Q1		x	x
	Q2		x
	Q3		x
	Q4		x
2012	Q1			x
	Q2
	Q3
	Q4	x
2013	Q1		x
	Q2		x
	Q3		x
	Q4		x
2014	Q1			X

The Boat Survey collects information about how many and what kinds of boats are owned as well as some information about how much boat owners spend on their boats. The survey will be conducted in the fourth quarter of the year preceding the target year. This staggered data collection schedule will ensure that the panel of boats to participate in the Trips Survey is established before the target year begins.

The Trips Survey will proceed monthly during the survey year. This survey samples individual trips that boats have taken and collects information about what happened on those trips: how long they lasted, what safety events occurred, and what money was spent. The sample for the Trips Survey will be boats that have responded to the Boat Survey.

The Participant Survey collects information about who has spent time boating during the year. We will conduct this survey in the first quarter of the year following the target year. The first Participant Survey will refer to 2010 and will provide some data to meet immediate needs at the Coast Guard. Subsequently, the Participant Survey will concern the survey years 2011 and 2013.

15. Reasons for Change in Burden

The primary difference between the current collection and previous ones is the need to obtain precise and detailed estimations of boaters’ exposure to hazards at the national as well as state levels. These statistics will inform the USCG Boating Safety Division about the frequency of use of each recreational vessel as well as the length of time it was used during each outing. This data is critical for risk assessment and the required precision and level of details are the primary cause for the increase in burden hours.

16. For collections of information whose results are planned to be published for statistical use, outline plans for tabulation, statistical analysis and publication.

A statistical analysis will be conducted and published. Statistical methods are included in Part B.

17. Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

USCG will display the expiration date for OMB approval of this information collection.

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

USCG does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

This information collection does employ statistical methods. Part B is in a separate document.

1 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/wireless200905.htm

2 http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p60-236.pdf

2