Justification A for OMB 1140-0091 Final

Department of Justice

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Information Collection Request

OMB 1140-0091

Supporting Statement

National Response Team (NRT) Customer Satisfaction Survey

A. Justification

1. The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 requires that each Government agency maximize resources, establish clear focus, set priorities, develop more realistic goals or more innovative measurements, and permit the allocation and use of available resources for specific priorities. The purpose of performance measurement initiatives is to capture data that permits an accurate assessment of program activities. The National Response Team (NRT) survey is used to support a Bureau performance measurement exercise and to assess strengths and weaknesses of a major program at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

ATF requests approval to make the following changes to the National Response Team (NRT) Customer Satisfaction Survey (OMB 1140-0091):

• Question 6 was updated to change “past year” to “past” for a historical experience answer.

• Questions 7, 8 and 9 were updated to remove the category qualifiers added in parentheses at the end of each question (i.e. Quality of Service, Timeliness of Delivery and Responsiveness to Customer’s Need). Changes were made because they do not apply to the customer, but rather to the accreditation process. These questions also seem bias in the way they are currently written and how they could be interpreted by the survey taker.

• Question 11 was updated to remove “quickly” which was replaced with “efficiently”.

• Question 12 was changed to “The NRT members have…” instead of “The NRT has…”

• Question 13 was removed from the survey because interviews can be conducted by NRT or state/local agents to obtain the desired feedback. Additionally, the question is too subjective for the time the surveys are distributed and the audience who completes them.

• Question 14 was removed from the survey since the ATF laboratory is a separate entity and has its own survey.

• Question 18 was reworded from “The NRT debriefed the local authorities every day…” to “The NRT provided daily or necessary briefings with local authorities...”

2. ATF’s arson and explosives NRT provide explosives and fire investigative resources and expertise on incidents and investigations that are beyond the existing capacity or other Federal, State, and local agencies and/or ATF field divisions. The NRT ensures immediate and sustained nationwide response to these situations by the most qualified ATF personnel. In particular, NRT personnel work alongside the members of other agencies during difficult circumstances to execute their responsibilities.

3. ATF seeks every opportunity to identify and resolve all obstacles that may challenge the efficiency, proficiency, and inter-agency cooperation, which are critical to NRT operations. To that end, ATF has been administering surveys to departments that request NRT assistance, upon completion of all NRT assignments. The information captured by the surveys is used to support a Bureau performance measurement mechanism, and to ensure that the services provided by the NRT continue to be relevant and of the highest caliber.

4. ATF initially sent the surveys by mail, but the response and return rates were often low and unpredictable. In order to improve the response rate and reduce the cost burden to the Government and the respondent, the survey is now delivered electronically. Specifically, surveys are electronically sent to a knowledgeable member of a department that requested NRT assistance, using the survey software designed for this purpose. An informational e-mail is also sent to the participant beforehand, notifying them about the imminent arrival of the survey along with an invitation for them or another knowledgeable member of their department to respond. Each department is allotted two weeks to respond to the survey. A reminder email will be sent to an unresponsive participant when the allotted two weeks has elapsed. To date, the response to the electronic surveys has been excellent.

5. There is no duplication of this data collection.

6. The information collected will be used to assess the overall performance of NRT personnel, and evaluate the operational needs of the NRT program. There is no impact to small businesses or other small entities.

7. The NRT Program was subject to an audit by the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) in January 2011. In item 5 of that report, the OIG recommended that “[ATF] place a greater emphasis on the State and local agency satisfaction surveys, establish a process for following up with non-respondents, and share with NRT members the feedback received through the surveys.” The issuance of electronic surveys is a direct response to one of the recommendations of this audit. If the collection is not approved, ATF will be unable to meet the requirements of both the corrective action plan and its data collection initiatives that support the Bureau’s performance measurement system.

8. No comments were received during the 60-day Federal Register Notice period. However, a 30-day Federal Register notice will be published shortly to solicit comments from the public.

9. No payment or gift is associated with this survey.

10. Confidentiality is not assured. Only the names of departments are required in the surveys. Respondents are informed that they may ask any knowledgeable member to complete the survey. The inclusion of a respondent’s name is optional.

11. No questions of a sensitive nature are asked in the survey.

12. The total respondents to this information collection (IC) is 32. Each respondent will complete the survey once per incident. It will take each respondent approximately fifteen (15) minutes to respond. Therefore, the total annual public burden for this IC is approximately 8 hours. A department that requests NRT assistance multiple times within the same year may voluntarily complete multiple surveys. However, this collection effort is not redundant because each survey will generate unique answers to a particular instance (NRT callout).

13. There is no cost to the respondent.

14. There is no cost to the Federal government.

15. The adjustment to the number of respondents includes a small increase from 20 in 2016, to 32. This may be due to the use of one combined survey to obtain feedback regarding a variety of NRT services, as well the electronic availability of this survey. Due to more respondents, the total burden has also grown slightly from 5 hours to 8 hours.

16. ATF will not publish the survey results. However, the results of this collection may be used to support policy decisions or for informational purposes.

17. ATF does not request approval to not display the expiration date of OMB approval or this collection.

18. There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

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