Justification

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

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Great Lakes AOC Project Area Community Use and Benefits Site User Satisfaction Survey

PURPOSE:

This survey is included in our methodological matrix to collect data about community use and benefits related to environmental changes in a Great Lakes-Area of Concern (GL-AOC) project area. Through this survey, we will collect direct feedback from the people who access and use the amenities and ecosystem services within the project area. With this method, we hope to collect site user perceptions of the project area, AOC project efforts, and the changes in environmental benefits that area users have experienced and/or would like to see happen. We will offer the survey in-person at the project site and offer an online survey option on our project website. The survey questions will be accessible to the general populations through common, non-technical language framed around user experience. These questions will invite participants to provide direct input regarding their “level of satisfaction with the services, environment and needs provided for by a specific place”¹

. Survey responses will provide primary data linking the project area amenities and environmental changes to user experience, benefit and/or desired changes. The results of these surveys (in conjunction with the results of the other methods) may inform amenity development in the area.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Respondents include anyone using the AOC project area amenities (e.g. pond, paved trail immediately near the pond) who are at the site during survey hours and who are willing to participate in the survey and consent to participate (or have obtained consent from an accompanying legal guardian).

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:

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 :___Jennifer Josephs__________________________________

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 [X] N/A

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 Hours
Individuals or Households	240	5 min.	20
Totals	240	5 min.	20

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is ___$18,950______

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? [ ] Yes [X ] 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?

Respondents will be identified as anyone using the AOC project area amenities who is willing and able to consent to participating in the survey.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[X] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

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

1 Stedman, Richard C. "Is it really just a social construction?: The contribution of the physical environment to sense of place." Society &Natural Resources 16, no. 8 (2003): 671-685, quoted in Deutsch, Kate, and Konstadinos Goulias. "Investigating the Impact of Sense of Place on Travel Behavior Using an Intercept Survey Methodology." (2009).

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