NAL- Animal Welfare Act Workshop Registration Form Supporting Statement Collection 11-2-21

Supporting Statement

Meeting the Information Requirements of the Animal Welfare Act Workshop Registration Form

Collection Number: 0518-0033

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Attach a copy if the appropriate section of each statute and regulation mandating or authorizing the collection of information.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA), National Agricultural Library, Animal Welfare Information Center conducts a workshop titled “Meeting the Information Requirements of the Animal Welfare Act”. The registration form collects information from interested parties necessary to register them for the workshop. This information includes: workshop date preference, signature, name, title, organization name, mailing address, phone and fax numbers and email address. Five questions are asked regarding: Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee membership (2 questions), is the participant a principal investigator, is the participant an experienced database searcher, and what the participant would like to learn from the workshop.

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

Animal Welfare Information Center staff will use the collected information to register participants, contact them regarding schedule changes, control the number of participants due to limited resources and training space, and compile and customize class materials to meet the needs of the participants.

The information will be collected using online and printed versions of the form.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means to the collection. Also describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.

The Registration Form will be available for completion online at the Animal Welfare Information Center Web site. Individuals may also print the form and return it via fax or mail. We estimate that approximately 100% of respondents will submit information via the online form due to its ease-of-use and based on Web site traffic. To accommodate persons that may not have access to the Internet or who have difficulty reading online forms, we have provided the option of returning a printed form by fax or mail.

4. Describe any efforts to identify duplication, show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use of the purposes described in item 2 above.

Since interested parties request to attend this workshop, there is no previous and/or duplication of information. All information is provided at the time of registration and is intended to be a one-time only opportunity for each participant.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities (Item 5 of OMB Form 83-I), describe any methods to minimize the burden.

We expect fewer than 3 small entities will use the form.

6. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

Failure of the Animal Welfare Information Center to collect this information would prohibit the delivery of this workshop and significantly inhibit the ability to provide up-to-date information on the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act.

7. Special Circumstances Relating to Guidelines 5 CFR 1320.5

There are no special circumstances for the collection of information requirements.

8. Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside Agency

A Federal Register notice was published on April 29, 2021, FR Doc. No, 2021-08937, Page 22625. Additionally, the NAL consulted with 3 people to ensure that the form was readable, understandable, and took less than 5 minutes to complete prior to submission to OMB. One comment was received from the public that has no impact on this collection.

Consultants:

Brock Carder; 200 East North Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21202; (443)-984-2000

Erika Edwards; 3790 Wigman Rd. Apt. 6, Holt, MI 48842; (515)-822-8230

Elizabeth Tobey; 10301 Baltimore Ave #115, Beltsville, MD 20705; (301)-910-1008

All consultants responded saying that it took them less than 5 minutes to complete the registration form. In addition, they stated that all the questions were easy to understand and interpret and that no changes needed to be made to the form.

9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

No payment of gift was or will be provided to respondents.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

The confidentiality of information received by the Animal Welfare Information Center is consistent with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

Questions of a sensitive nature are not applicable to this information collection.

12. Provide estimates of the hour burden collection of information. Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated.

Based on the number of regulated communities under the Animal Welfare Act, it is estimated that 270 respondents will complete the survey annually. The time required to complete this information is estimated to average 5 minutes per response, including the time to check the boxes and the text fields. The burden for this collection is 22 hours.

See copy of spreadsheet.

Members of the regulated community would be completing the workshop registration. The total estimated cost to respondents is $915.64 ($41.62 per hour x 22 hours)

The cost to our respondents is based on the median salary of $85,890 * at a pay rate of $41.29 * per hour. * Department of Labor, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2019, 19-1099 Life Scientists, All Other. The additional cost to responds is $0.33 per hour for supplemental pay ($41.29 per hours + $0.33 = $41.62 total). *The Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation – December 2020. The fringe benefits for the respondents was included in the wage cost.

13. Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record-

Keepers

There are no capital and start-up, or operation, maintenance and purchase costs associated with this information collection.

14. Annualized Costs to the Federal Government

The estimated annualized cost to the Federal government is $538.75. The estimated time for review, data entry, and tracking is 25 hours. The information from the form will be extracted by a government employee with an approximate cost to the government of $21.55* per hour. *Based on GS-5 Step 5 Effective January 2021. The fringe benefits for the Federal Government was included in the wage cost.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments reported in Items 13 or 14 of OMB Form 83-I.

The number of respondents increased from 200 to 270, and the number of responses increased from 200 to 270, this results in an increase of 70.  The burden hours increased from 17 to 22. This increase is due to the workshop platform being moved from in person to virtual. The result has more people attending the workshop.

16. For collections of information whose results are planned to be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication.

Information will not be published.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

The Animal Welfare Information Center is not seeking approval to exempt display of the expiration date for OMB approval.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19 “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act.”

There are no exceptions to Item 19 of OMB Form 83-I.