2020 Data Confidentiality Web Survey Generic Clearance

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery” (OMB Control Number: 1905-0210)

2020 Data Confidentiality Web Survey

PURPOSE: The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) seeks to assess the perceptions of survey respondents regarding EIA’s efforts to protect the confidentiality of information reported on survey forms. Finds from this research will provide qualitative feedback on survey respondent’s perceptions of the trust relationship with EIA. This research will collect qualitative information of survey respondents’ trust in EIA’s ability to protect the confidentiality of the data it collects. This is the 3^rd research study of survey respondents’ perception of the trust relationship with EIA since 2015. The results from the 2015 and 2016 studies on business perceptions of EIA’s ability to protect confidential information will be compared with the results from this study to identify any areas of concerns or improvement during the past 4 years. The research in 2015 focused on surveys that were protected using exemptions under the FOIA statute and the 2016 study focused on the perceptions of EIA’s efforts to protect confidentiality on surveys protected by the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA). This research will include respondents that report on surveys protected by either CIPSEA or use exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act. This study will compare survey respondent’s perceptions of confidentiality between the CIPSEA protected surveys and non-CIPSEA protected surveys to identify whether there is a stronger trust relationship with respondents to surveys protected under CIPSEA or if their perceptions are similar to respondents that report on other surveys that are not protected under CIPSEA.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Active respondents that are listed on the frame files for 10 EIA surveys that are protected under the CIPSEA statute as well as survey data that are protected using the exemptions under the FOIA statute.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

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

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Cognitive Interviews

[ ] Focus Group [] Other: ______________________

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: Tom Leckey, Assistant Administrator for Office of Energy Statistics,

U.S. Energy Information Administration

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

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 These are statistical records as defined under 5 U.S.C. § 552A(a)(6) maintained for statistical research and not used in whole or in part in making any determination about an identifiable individual. Data will be encrypted when the respondent submits their response to the survey using FIPS 140-2 approved encryption software to protect the PII. The PII will be removed from the survey responses and stored in a separate data user frame file and stored in a restricted access folder.

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? [ ] Y [X] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	Sample Size Goal Round 1	Participation Time (minutes)	Burden Hours
Non CIPSEA Respondents	700	5	58.33
CIPSEA Respondents	400	5	33.33
Totals	1100		91.66

ESTIMATE OF RESPONDENT BURDEN HOURS AND COST: The burden to respondents is 92 hours and the cost to the respondents is estimated to be ($78.52*92) = $7,223.84. Two mock surveys were conducted. The estimate of 5 minutes for each survey is an accurate time estimate for gathering responses to the questions. Some participants will have shorter survey times than others based on knowledge, type of operation, and the ability to answer specific questions.

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is: $392.60

Drafting the Protocol	2 hours
Analyzing Results	3 hours

5 hours * $78.52 (FTE hourly pay rate) = $392.60

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?

This design includes coverage of respondents across the following fuel groups:

• Petroleum

• Natural Gas

• Electric Power

• Coal

• Uranium

• Renewable energy sources

EIA will send invitations to respondents from eight CIPSEA protected surveys and 15 EIA non-CIPSEA protected surveys. The sample frame will be the respondents who report on the following EIA surveys:

Surveys using CIPSEA to Protect Information:

1. Form EIA-877, “Winter Heating Fuels Telephone Survey”

2. Form EIA-878, “Motor Gasoline Price Survey”

3. Form EIA-888, “On-Highway Diesel Fuel Price Survey”

4. Form EIA-910, “Monthly Natural Gas Marketers Survey”

5. Form EIA-912, “Weekly Underground Natural Gas Storage Report”

6. Form EIA-914, “Monthly Crude Oil, Lease Condensate, and Natural Gas Production Report”

7. Form EIA-851A, “Domestic Uranium Production Report – Annual”

8. Form EIA-858, “Uranium Marketing Annual Survey”

Surveys using FOIA Exemptions to Protect Information:

1. Form EIA-7A, “Annual Survey of Coal Production and Preparation”

2. Form 8A, “Annual Survey of Coal Stocks and Coal Exports”

3. Form EIA-923, “Power Plant Operations Report”

4. Form EIA-857, “Monthly Report of Natural Gas Purchaser and Deliveries to Consumers,”

5. Form EIA-861, “Annual Electric Power Industry Report”

6. Form EIA-810, “Monthly Refinery Report”

7. Form EIA-812, “Monthly Product Pipeline Report”

8. Form EIA-815, “Monthly Bulk Terminal and Blender Report”

9. Form EIA-63B, “Annual Photovoltaic Cell/Module Shipments Report”

10. Form EIA 821, “Annual Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales Report”

11. Form EIA 782A, “Refiners'/Gas Plant Operators' Monthly Petroleum Product Sales Report”

12. Form EIA 782C, “Monthly Report of Prime Supplier Sales of Petroleum Products Sold for Local Consumption”

13. Form EIA 856, “Monthly Foreign Crude Oil Acquisition Report”

14. Form EIA-182, "Domestic Crude Oil First Purchase Report”

15. Form EIA-64A, “Annual Report of the Origin of Natural Gas Liquids Production”

The survey will be open until 1100 responses are received or for three weeks from the launch date, whichever occurs first. EIA will send reminder emails every Monday morning for two weeks. Response counts will be checked on a weekly basis to ensure we do not exceed 1,100 responses.

Results will be downloaded to an Excel file for analysis. For the open-ended questions, a code scheme will be used to categorize responses. For reliability purposes, two or more researchers will code and categorize responses. A reliability check will be conducted in the first 100 responses to ensure each coder has the same thought process.

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

[] 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 Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery”

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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