Utilization OMB Paperwork Reduction Act Supporting Statement Section 1517- Final Version (3)

The Supporting Statement

Utilization of the Private Sector for Surveying and Mapping Services on Federal-aid Highway Projects

Introduction: This is a new request from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for the information collection entitled Utilization of the Private Sector for Surveying and Mapping Services. The purpose of this new request is to collect the data and information in support of the requirements established under Section 1517 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and Section 306 of Title 23, United States Code.

Part A: Justification.

1. Circumstances that make collection of information necessary:

Section 1517 of MAP-21, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (Pub.L. 112–141), requires the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a survey of all States to determine the percentage of projects carried out under title 23, United States Code, in each State that utilize private sector sources for surveying and mapping services. Additionally, Section 306 of Title 23, United States Code, requires the Secretary of Transportation to issue guidance to encourage States to utilize, to the maximum extent practicable, private sector sources for surveying and mapping services for projects under title 23 of the United States Code; and, to develop a process for the oversight and regular monitoring of each State’s use of the private sector to provide these services. This collection supports DOTs Strategic Goal for Economic Growth and Organizational Excellence.

2. How, by whom, and for what purpose is the information used:

The FHWA, via a survey, will be requesting information from the State Transportation Agencies (STA) to determine the percent of projects in each state for which private sector sources were utilized for surveying and mapping services. Included in the survey will be the request for information from the State transportation agencies, on the extent to which they use the private sector for surveying and mapping activities. Information obtained from the survey will be used to issue revised guidance recommending appropriate roles for government and private sector surveying activities and in continuing to encourage States to use private sector sources to provide these services. The survey results will also be used to develop a process for the oversight and regular monitoring of each State’s use of the private sector to provide these services.

3. Extent of automated information collection:

STAs and FHWA division offices will submit their information electronically to FHWA headquarters.

4. Efforts to identify duplication:

The request for data is driven by legislation. There are no other recordkeeping requirements imposed by FHWA or other Federal agencies which duplicates this process.

5. Efforts to minimize the burden on small businesses:

The information on the utilization of the private sector for surveying and mapping services that FHWA will collect will come from 50 STAs, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The information that will be requested should be accessible to State Transportation Agencies. No small businesses are involved.

6. Impact of less frequent collection of information:

Non-compliance with MAP-21 and 23 USC 306 requirements.

7. Special circumstances:

There are no special circumstances associated with this information collection.

8. Compliance with 5 CFR 1320.8:

The FHWA published a Notice of Request for Comments for a New Information Collection on the utilization of the private sector for surveying and mapping services, on December 20th, 2013 at 78/245 page 77198 which solicited public comments regarding this new information collection requirement. No comments regarding this information collection were received.

9. Payments or gifts to respondents:

Not Applicable. There will not be any payments or gifts to respondents.

10. Assurance of confidentiality:

FHWA is not providing assurance of confidentiality.

11. Justification for collection of sensitive information:

The survey will not be collecting any information of sensitive nature.

12. Estimate of burden hours for information requested:

The estimated burden to compile the results on the utilization of the private sector for surveying and mapping services for each of the surveyed State DOT, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico is 24 hours per respondent. Therefore, it is estimated that 1,248 hours will be expended to collect, summarize and submit the information requested by the survey.

Salary costs associated with the burden hours defined are estimated at $40 per hour. Therefore the total estimated annual salary costs for all respondents are: 1,248 hours @ $40 per hour = $49,920.

13. Estimate of total annual costs to respondents:

There is no capital/start-up and operation/maintenance cost foreseen for the efforts of gathering the information related to the survey.

14. Estimate of cost to the Federal government:

The estimated time to collect the survey information on the utilization of the private sector for surveying and mapping services, for the field offices is 2 hours for each Division. The estimated time to collect, summarize and analyze the results from the survey data collected for the Headquarters office, and issue the required guidance is 160 hours. Therefore, it is estimated that FHWA will expend about 264 hours of staff time to collect, compile, analyze and develop guidance.

The total estimated cost to the FHWA is calculated as follows:

Total Estimated Cost: 264 hours @ $50 = $13,200

15. Explanation of program changes or adjustments:

This is a new Information Collection.

16. Publication of results of data collection:

The FHWA will publish the results of the survey data collected when guidance is issued, and publish it on FHWA’s web site. None of the information collected will be used to make any statistical inference.

17. Approval for not displaying the expiration date of OMB approval:

There is no request to not display the expiration date of the OMB approval for this information collection requirement.

18. Exceptions to certification statement:

There are no exceptions to the certification statement for this information collection request.

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