30-day FRN

30-Day Notice of Intent To Seek Reinstatement Without Change:..., 86 FR 48463-01

86 FR 48463-01, 2021 WL 3837722(F.R.)
NOTICES
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
30-Day Notice of Intent To Seek Reinstatement Without Change: Generic
Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery
Monday, August 30, 2021
*48463 ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board.
*48463 SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521 (PRA), the Surface Transportation Board (STB or Board) gives notice that it is requesting
from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a reinstatement without change of Generic Clearance for the Collection
of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery. This collection was developed as part of a Federal Government-wide
effort to streamline the process for seeking feedback from the public on the Board's service delivery. The Board previously
published a notice about this collection in the Federal Register (June 24, 2021). That notice allowed for a 60-day public review
and comment period. No comments were received.
DATES: Comments on this information collection should be submitted by September 29, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be identified as “Paperwork Reduction Act Comments, Surface Transportation Board:
Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.” Written comments for the proposed
information collection should be submitted via www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. This information collection can be
accessed by selecting “Currently under Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function. As an alternative,
written comments may be directed to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Attention: Michael J. McManus, Surface Transportation Board Desk Officer: via email at [email protected]; by
fax at (202) 395-1743; or by mail to Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.
Please also direct comments to Chris Oehrle, PRA Officer, Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, Washington,
DC 20423-0001 and to [email protected]. For further information regarding this collection, contact Michael Higgins,
Deputy Director, Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs (OPAGAC), and Compliance, at (202) 245-0284 or
[email protected]. Assistance for the hearing impaired is available through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For each collection, comments are requested concerning: (a) Whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection
of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to
provide information. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain,
retain, disclose, or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to
develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying information,
processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond
to a collection of information, to search data sources, to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit
or otherwise disclose the information. Submitted comments will be summarized and included in the Board's request for OMB
approval.

© 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

1

30-Day Notice of Intent To Seek Reinstatement Without Change:..., 86 FR 48463-01

Description of Collection
Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.
OMB Control Number: 2140-0019.
STB Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Extension without change.
Respondents: Customers and stakeholders of the Board.
Number of Respondents, Frequency, Estimated Time Per Response, and Total Burden Hours: A variety of instruments and
platforms may be used to collect information from respondents. The estimated annual burden hours (277) are based on the
number of collections we expect to conduct over the requested period for this clearance, as set forth in the table below.
Estimated Annual Reporting Burden
Type of collection

Number of

Annual

Hours per

Total hours

respondents
frequency
per response
response
Focus Group

15

1

2

30

Comment Card/Brief Survey

200

2

.17

67

Surveys

150

2

.6

180

Needs and Uses: The proposed information collection activity provides a means to garner qualitative customer and stakeholder
feedback in an efficient and timely manner, in accordance with the Administration's commitment to improving service delivery.
By qualitative feedback we mean information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but not statistical
surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study. This feedback will provide insights
into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences, and expectations; provide an early warning with issues about how the
Board provides service to the public; or focus attention on areas where communication, training, or changes in operations
might improve delivery of products or services. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative, and actionable
communications between the Board and its customers and stakeholders. They will also allow feedback to contribute directly
to the improvement of program management.
The solicitation of feedback will target areas such as: timeliness, appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency
of service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. Responses will be assessed to plan and inform efforts to
improve or maintain the *48464 quality of service offered to the public. If this information is not collected, vital feedback
from customers and stakeholders on the Board's services will be unavailable.
The Board will only process a collection under this generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:

© 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

2

30-Day Notice of Intent To Seek Reinstatement Without Change:..., 86 FR 48463-01

• The collections are voluntary;
• the collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents,
or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;
• the collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;
• any 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 near future;
• personally identifiable information is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained;
• information gathered is used only internally for general service improvement and program management purposes and not for
release outside of the agency;
• information gathered is used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions; and
• information gathered will yield qualitative information, and the collections will not be designed or expected to yield statistically
reliable results or used as though the results are generalizable to the population of study.
Feedback collected under this generic clearance will provide useful information, but will not yield data that can be generalized
to the overall population. Such data uses would require more rigorous designs than the collections covered by this notice.
As a general matter, information collections will not result in any new system of records containing privacy information and
will not ask questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are
commonly considered private.
Under the PRA, a federal agency that conducts or sponsors a collection of information must display a currently valid OMB
control number. A collection of information, which is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c), includes agency
requirements that persons submit reports, keep records, or provide information to the agency, third parties, or the public. Section
3507(b) of the PRA requires, concurrent with an agency's submitting a collection to OMB for approval, a 30-day notice and
comment period through publication in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information.
Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available to the public by the Board. For this reason, please
do not include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or proprietary
information. If you send an electronic comment (e-file or email), your email address is automatically captured and may be
accessed if your comments are made public. Please note that responses to this public comment request containing any routine
notice about the confidentiality of the communication will be treated as public comments that may be made available to the
public notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine notice.
Dated: August 24, 2021.
Tammy Lowery,
Clearance Clerk.

[FR Doc. 2021-18652 Filed 8-27-21; 8:45 am]

© 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

3

30-Day Notice of Intent To Seek Reinstatement Without Change:..., 86 FR 48463-01

BILLING CODE 4915-01-P

End of Document

© 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

© 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

4