Request for Approval under the "Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback" (OMB Control Number 0710-0016

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0710-0016)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Analyzing evacuation behavior in New Jersey to develop hurricane evacuation and transportation models.

PURPOSE:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Philadelphia District, (NAP) seeks to conduct a survey of residents at risk from hurricane events within certain coastal regions in the State of New Jersey. The area may include sites in Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaic, Salem, Somerset, and Union counties in New Jersey. Information obtained from this survey will be incorporated into a Hurricane Evacuation Study to identify clearance times for evacuations of populations in New Jersey in advance of a hurricane or tropical storm. This collection will provide information to determine if the resources needed and time requirements to ensure life safety of the residents of coastal New Jersey prior to hurricane landfall.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The potential respondent universe will consist of residents living in coastal areas where public officials may call for an evacuation when a hurricane threatens. All study proposals must include a description of a survey’s particular respondent universe. The sample population is typically identified using available hurricane risk data, including data on areas at risk from hurricane storm surge flooding, previous hurricane evacuation studies or hurricane response plans, established hurricane evacuation zones, and in coordination with State and Local governments within the study area who are responsible for hurricane emergency management and evacuation decision making.

For the New Jersey Hurricane Public Evacuation Behavior Survey, the study will collect 1,600 responses from residents of 17 New Jersey counties: Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaic, Salem, Somerset, and Union.

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: telephone____________

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:_________Douglas Gorecki_______________________________________

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

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals or households	1600	30 minutes	800hrs
Totals

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is ___$320,000_________

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?

Survey data collection will primarily be through telephone calls to addresses in hurricane evacuation zones. This is generally the method recommended by Social Science subject matter experts for this type of collection. Survey administrators use specialized software to record responses for better quality control and assurance, and to provide for efficient tabulation of the results.

In recent evacuation behavioral surveys, using commercially available published listings of landline telephone numbers with geocoded physical addresses, 37.5% of the numbers were reached successfully. The attrition is partly due to numbers that have been disconnected, commercial numbers that were incorrectly classified as residential, and so forth. But most of the attrition is due to residents not answering their phone. Of those who do answer, approximately 40% have most recently agreed to participate in the survey, resulting in an overall response rate of 15%. The 15% figure is better than the national average for landline surveys of 9%, mainly due to greater interest in the subject matter of the survey. Response rates for future survey efforts are expected to be similar and at or above levels needed to obtain statistically viable results. USACE District, with local and state emergency managers, will use range of approaches that can be used to maximize response rates and ensure that these are integrated as part of the survey methodology in the supporting statement for each information collection to be considered under the clearance.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ x ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [x ] Yes [ ] 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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