0596-0217 - Supporting Statement B 20221205

Supporting Statement – Part B

OMB 0596-0217

PART B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

1. Describe (including a numerical estimate) the potential respondent universe and any sam­pling or other respondent selection method to be used. Data on the number of entities (e.g., establishments, State and local government units, households, or persons) in the universe covered by the collection and in the corre­sponding sample are to be provided in tabular form for the uni­verse as a whole and for each of the strata in the proposed sample. Indicate expected response rates for the collection as a whole. If the collection had been conducted previously, include the actual response rate achieved during the last collection.

1. Forest Service employees collect information from cooperating parties from the pre-award to the closeout stage via telephone calls, emails, postal mail, and person-to-person meetings to create, develop, and administer these funded and non-funded agreements. The multiple means for respondents to communicate their responses include forms, non-forms, electronic documents, face-to-face, telephone, and internet. The scope of information collected varies; however, it typically includes the project type, project scope, financial plan, statement of work, and cooperator's business information.

The Forest Service would not be able to create, develop, and administer these funded and non-funded agreements without the collected information. The Agency would also be unable to develop or monitor projects, make or receive payments, or identify financial and accounting errors.

The Forest Service has not conducted any analysis however the estimated burden is as follows:

Estimated Annual Number of Respondents for New Form: 1,270.

Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 3,810 hours.

2. Describe the procedures for the collection of information including:

• Statistical methodology for stratification and sample selection,

• The Forest Service anticipates stratifying the agreement types by the selected instrument and associated provisions based on the authorities cited under the agreement/ grant.

• Estimation procedure,

• Estimating procedures will be tracked through the Agency’s Agreements system of record which tracks the number any types of collections occur.

• Degree of accuracy needed for the pur­pose described in the justification,

• The accuracy levels needed are a one to one based on the system requirements needed to execute and or update agreement collections.

• Unusual problems requiring specialized sampling procedures, and

• None are anticipated at this time

• Any use of periodic (less frequent than annual) data collection cycles to reduce burden.

• None are anticipated at this time

3. Describe methods to maximize response rates and to deal with issues of non-response. The accuracy and reliability of information collected must be shown to be adequate for intended uses. For collections based on sam­pling, a special justification must be provid­ed for any collection that will not yield "reli­able" data that can be generalized to the universe studied.

1. System enhancements will enable the Forest Service to monitor and advise respondents when non-response situations occur as agreements/ grants are executed and implemented. These checks and balances will ensure proper performance and information collection is achieved as projects progress.

4. Describe any tests of procedures or methods to be undertaken. Testing is encouraged as an effective means of refining collections of information to minimize burden and improve utility. Tests must be approved if they call for answers to identical questions from 10 or more respondents. A proposed test or set of tests may be submitted for approval separate­ly or in combination with the main collection of information.

1. None are anticipated at this time

4. Provide the name and telephone number of individuals consulted on statistical aspects of the design and the name of the agency unit, contractor(s), grantee(s), or other person(s) who will actually collect and/or analyze the information for the agency.

1. The original estimates were derived from previous information collection rates averaged across the various agreement types to arrive at the estimated burden hour. The individuals who provide analysis in support of this are Gerald “Jay” Berg, 763-355-7230 and Jamie Lentz 406-758-5292 who will actually collect and/or analyze the information for the agency with support from the rest of the Washington Office, Office of Grants and Agreements Staff.