Justification

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 2010-0042)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Office of Research and Development Science Matters Newsletter Customer Satisfaction Survey

PURPOSE: The Science Matters Newsletter has been in circulation for four years, and the ORD Science Communications team hopes to gauge the satisfaction of Science Matters readers, solicit comments and suggestions to improve user ability to easily find meaningful information on the research and scientific findings happening at the EPA.

This data will be used in the Science Matters Promotional Campaign plan to provide a full look at SM’s and possible areas of improvement to better serve its readers.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Respondents will be subscribers of the Science Matters GovDelivery email listserv. Respondents will be a mix of private citizens; local, state, tribal, and federal government representatives; industry representatives; academics; etc.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

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

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

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

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

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice 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
Science Matters Subscribers	~38000 sent @ 40% rate = 15,2000 respondents	5 minutes	76,000 minutes
Total	~15,200 respondents		1,267 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is 5 hours x $37.44 hourly rate = $187.20.

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?

The survey link will be sent via email to subscribers of the Science Matters email listserv, a service of GovDelivery. There are currently 38,000 subscribers.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[X] Web-based

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

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

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: Primary Contact – Jacqueline Vasko – [email protected] - (202) 603-8022

Secondary Contact – Sara Edwards – [email protected] - (828) 244-6487

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