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Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0710-0018)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: 2017 Agricultural Shipper Needs Survey -

Upper Mississippi River System

PURPOSE: The Army Corps of Engineers planning models incorporate estimated transportation demand models. The demand models involve a choice model that combines both revealed and stated preference survey data. The result allows shipper response functions to be estimates. Hence, the overall objective of the proposed research is to provide shipper response function estimates for the Upper Mississippi-Illinois Waterways.

Several surveys have been historically conducted to accomplish the task at hand. These include surveys of grain shippers in the Upper Miss, Non-ag shippers in the Upper Miss, Ohio River shippers, Columbia River shippers, Calcasieu Shippers. Each of the surveys were previously approved under OMB Control Number 0710-0001. The present survey utilizes the questions from 2006 Survey of UMISS grain shippers adapted to align with the approved questions under OMB Control number 0710-0018 Navigation Improvement Survey. A paper survey and web based survey are available

The survey will be implemented by the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center located at Washington State University. This organization has conducted many surveys of the same type over the last 15 years.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: The population is defined as all grain shippers that potentially use the Mississippi Waterway system. A list of grain warehouses that has been developed over several years and previous studies. The primary list comes from USDA, but this list was supplemented by Waterborne Commerce Port Series, on-line search, State Departments of Agriculture, Grain Association Directories, lists compiled by other organizations (Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute), and other sources.

The focus of the study is on the Upper Mississippi-Illinois Waterways. To retain this focus, the initial population is defined as elevators in ND, SD, NE, KS, MO, IA, MN, WI, and IL. In addition, export elevators (which receive the grain and export) were excluded. A total of 3719 grain elevators were determined to fill within the study region with the sample of these elevators described below.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [x] Other: _Needs Assessment

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The 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 future.

Name:_______ Danna Lee Moore _______________________________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No

BURDEN HOURS

The Washington State University survey center estimates that it will take 15 minutes to fill out the questionnaire in either the web or paper format including the time to read the cover letter and instructions. Based on similar data collection efforts conducted in previous years (under OMB control number 0710-0001) and similar studies conducted by the Primary investigator (Attachment 10), the estimated response rate is 460 (of this 70 are expected to complete a paper survey). The burden estimate for completion of the surveys is 115 hours (460*15/60=115 hours).

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Ag Shipper – Web Survey	390	15 minutes	97.5 hours
Ag Shipper – Paper Survey	70	15 minutes	17.5 hours
Totals	460		115 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is estimated at $45,000.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [x] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Sampling

Within the study region, four primary strata are identified. These include: 1. Grain Elevators located on the waterway (N1=133); 2. Grain elevators located within 100 miles of the waterway (N2=1069); 3. Grain Elevators located 101 to 200 miles (N3=828) of the waterway; and 4. Grain Elevators located more than 200 miles but less than 400 miles from the waterway (N4=1689). A total of 3719 elevators were identified as the initial population.

A sample of 1850 elevators will be randomly drawn from the population with strata probabilities of 100, 80, 60 and 20, which with a 25 percent response rate (approximately that of the 2006 survey) yields 33 on-waterway responses, 213 within 100 miles, 124 between 100 and 200 miles, and 91 between 200 and 400 miles. The primary reason for the distance stratification is that the emphasis should be on shippers that could plausibly use the waterway. Naturally, these are elevators that are on the waterway or near the waterway.

Sampling Protocol

The selected elevators will receive an initial contact with up to five follow-up contacts for non-respondents. These are:

1. Selected elevators will receive an notification letter to participate in the survey with a weblink address and individual access code for the survey;

2. Approximately one week later, the elevators that have not responded will be mailed a cover letter with a weblink address, individual access code and hard-copy survey instrument.

3. Approximately one week later, the elevators that have not responded will be mailed a reminder postcard.

4. Approximately one week later a second letter will be sent to the non-responding elevators that includes a weblink address, individual access code and hard-copy survey instrument.

5. Approximately one week later a telephone reminder call will be made to the elevator. As an outcome of this call, they could be sent an e-mail message with weblink to the survey or receive a cover letter with a weblink address, individual access code and hard-copy survey instrument.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ X ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ X ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions. Note: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households;(2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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