Justification

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery”

(OMB Control Number: 2030-0051; EPA ICR Number: 2434.247)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Greening Urban Neighborhoods from the Ground Up

PURPOSE: Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB) will lead a group of project partners, 

including academic, municipal, local utility, and nonprofit entities, to work with Indianapolis 

residents in a participatory fashion to (1) collect environmental data related to air quality and 

heat; (2) educate about the benefits of trees, such as capturing stormwater; and (3) create 

associated neighborhood story maps that will lead to a more productive dialogue and give 

residents more opportunity to be heard when it comes to green infrastructure projects in their 

neighborhoods. A key goal is to increase input from neighbors about environmental issues 

impacting quality of life in their communities.  

 

IU researchers will conduct pre- and post-assessments of neighborhood collaborators, with a focus on awareness of tree benefits and interest in contributing to future tree planting and stewardship activities. Preassessment data will inform community engagement activities, such as educational materials about ecosystem services and the collection and presentation of air quality and heat data. KIB will track community engagement scores, participation in community input (surveys, Townhall meetings, Advisory Committees), community applications for tree plantings and other environmental projects, and predicted environmental benefits. KIB, IU, and neighborhood collaborators will reflect on assessment and metric results at several planned reflection points and identify both lessons learned and best practices. These outcomes will be shared on the Indiana Green City Mapper, enabling outcomes to be presented in their social and ecological contexts (e.g., by neighborhood, in relation to existing tree cover, air quality and heat data, and social capital). 

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: The Far Eastside is a working-class community bordering the binterstate beltway around Indianapolis. When veterans came home after World War II, the Far Eastside grew with jobs at Western Electric, Chrysler, and Ford. As these manufacturing plants shut their doors in the 1980s, smaller businesses began to decline, and institutions like banks and grocery stores left. Over the last 20 years, the neighborhood has changed from a community of virtually all homeowners to an even mix of owners and renters. Access to trees and greenspace is limited.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

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

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

[ ] Focus Group [X] Other: Resident Education Survey

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [X] Yes [ ] No

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

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) 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
Residents	400 people	10 minutes	67 hours
Totals	400 people	10 minutes	67 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated one-time cost to the Federal government is approximately $30,000 but this is covering the staff engagement time to develop and implement the survey and is part of the Environmental Justice grant KIB/IU received (Grant EC 00E03086).

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?

This project will seek responses from residents within the 46226 zip code. There are ~40,000 people who live this area, 1% of that would be 400 individuals This area represents the Far Eastside community of the City. Potential respondents will be identified through membership and contact lists from the local neighborhood partners, the Community of Far Eastside Alliance (CAFÉ) and the Mayor’s Neighborhood Advocate (MNA). KIB will use its Salesforce database of past donors, volunteers, and organizational partners to help further our outreach for potential people to complete the survey. There are 723 total records from that list. The goal would be to have 10% of 4,000 respondents, which is 10% of the total population of the neighborhood. 700 contacts from KIB would leave the remainder of contacts provided by CAFÉ and the MNA to provide. The survey is available online and via QR code, and a paper copy available to residents without access to the internet.  

Administration of the Instrument

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

[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[X] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

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

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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: Carter Cranberg, EPA Region 5 Air and Radiation Division

See attached for paper version of the survey 

Survey Link: https://bit.ly/FarEastside 

4