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: 2434.263)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Pretesting Outreach Materials for Fish Consumption Advisories to Reach Vulnerable Populations

PURPOSE:

EPA has developed one image of a fish to convey the fish parts that should and should not be eaten, if they contain contamination. There are 2 versions of the image, one has a QR code, the other does not. These 2 images will be evaluated to see which one respondents prefer. The same image also has different language options to assess the participants’ comprehension and receptivity (e.g., what they think of the phrases “research has found” vs. “studies have found” when describing the level of contamination that some fish parts may have).

The goal for the final images is to make them publicly available for others to use when developing fish consumption advisories by posting them on the EPA’s website for the fish advisory program. Therefore, anyone, including state/tribal fish consumption advisory managers, can download them and post them to their respective websites or include them on risk communication materials such as brochures, posters, or signs.

Prior to making them publicly available, the images need to be pretested with the primary audiences (i.e., individuals who cook and eat the fish they catch or individuals who receive or buy locally caught fish from others to eat) to ensure they are understood as intended. EPA will pretest the images with individuals whose first language is English and not English (e.g., Laotian, Portuguese, Bengali, etc.)

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Members of the public who cook and eat the fish they catch OR who receive or buy locally caught fish from others to eat.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

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

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

[X] Focus Group [X] Other: Individual or group interviews

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, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [x] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [x] Yes [ ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Individuals – Screener Respondents	120	5 mins	10
Individuals – Discussion Group Respondents	100	55 mins	91.67
Totals	120		111.67

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is: $4,167.84.

This estimate is based on the Federal Government’s project manager’s hourly wage which is $86.83. Applying the standard multiplier of 1.6 produces a loaded wage rate of $138.93.

The project manager analyzes the information received from the survey which will be 30 hours worth of time. Project Manager’s work hours (30) x $138.93 = $4,167.84 of total Federal Government costs.

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?

The approach will be to recruit a quota-based convenience sample comprised of members of the primary audiences and meeting the eligibility criteria (i.e., members of the public who cook and eat the fish they catch OR receive or buy locally caught fish to eat).

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

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ x ] Yes [ ] 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: Sharon Frey

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